Ceist:
40 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if he will provide an update on efforts to secure the Special Olympics in 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25674/98]
Priority Questions. - Special Olympics.
In reply to Question No. 19 on 21 October last, I told the House that Special Olympics International was seeking an interim guarantee of £2.5 million from the State against potential financial loss by the 2003 Special Olympics Summer Games Organising Committee and had yet to make a decision on the allocation of the games. It was impossible for the Government to issue an unconditional guarantee that it would undertake to underwrite any debts arising from holding the world games.
With the approval of the Minister for Finance and the agreement of the Government, I wrote to Special Olympics Ireland on 20 November last to inform it that to enable the games organising committee step up the momentum of its fund raising efforts and to leverage financial backing on the scale required from other sources by the end of 1999, the allocation for the games in the 1999 Estimates would be increased from £250,000 as provided in the Abridged Book of Estimates, to £2.5 million, which represents 50 per cent of the total grant approved towards the cost of organising the 2003 games in Ireland, and that the new allocation will be published in the revised Estimates volume for 1999. There has been no formal response to date from Special Olympics Ireland.
Dr. Upton
Will the extra funding provided by the Minister allow the Special Olympics to go ahead and will it meet the organisers' requirements in the same way the guarantee of £2.5 million would have done?
I am confident the measures we now have in place will allow the Special Olympics to go ahead and I hope there will be a successful outcome. As the Deputy is aware, the Special Olympics is the largest single sporting event anywhere in the world in 2003. Some 7,000 athletes will take part and they will bring 28,000 family members with them. They will come from 160 countries and they will be involved in 19 different sports. Some 30,000 volunteers will also be required. It gives us an excellent chance to show that we are a disability friendly country. I am confident the measures now in place will meet the international committee's stipulations.
I was in New York recently where I spoke to Mr. Shriver and Mrs. Jean Kennedy Smith, the former US Ambassador to Ireland, about this matter. They seemed confident the event would go ahead. I am confident that everything is in place and the Special Olympics will be held here in 2003.
Dr. Upton
I welcome the Minister's progress in this regard. Is he satisfied that our infrastructural facilities are adequate to cater for the large numbers of people with disabilities who will come to the country for this special event? Has he discussed this matter with the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Mary Wallace, the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, and the Minister for Public Enterprise, Deputy O'Rourke, particularly since new buses are being purchased which do not have facilities for people with disabilities? Does he agree this is an undesirable development, particularly as there will be an influx of people with disabilities to this country during the Special Olympics? We must also cater for our citizens who have a disability.
I am confident we have overcome all the major infrastructural problems. I gave the committee guarantees when I met it some time ago that all the infrastructure, particularly the transport infrastructure, would not pose any problems. Other problems are related to sporting infrastructure, such as in the swimming area. I assured the committee we would have adequate facilities in that area in 2003.