Interesting PQs on this:
7. Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will report on the progress made in carrying out a national audit of sports facilities and services; if this audit will be completed by June 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40835/06]
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (Mr. O'Donoghue): I refer the Deputy to my reply earlier to Priority Question No. 5 on this topic.
Mr. O'Donoghue: The nationwide audit of sports facilities has commenced and is being carried out in stages to help speed up the availability of information. Phase one of the audit will establish a record of national and regional sports facilities and is being carried out within my Department.
The work currently being undertaken is a data gathering exercise in conjunction with the main sporting bodies and local authorities to identify the facilities for inclusion in this phase. My Department has identified a list of in excess of 100 sports facilities of national or regional significance. Many of these have been funded under the sports capital programme since 1999 and a considerable bank of information already exists, although some of this information is not up to date and, therefore, a complete set of data has to be obtained. In addition, details of facilities at third level educational institutions and swimming pools have also been included on this inventory. Further engagement with the main sporting bodies, local authorities and facility owners and managers is being undertaken so a comprehensive database on the range and nature of sporting facilities at national and regional level can be completed.
By ascertaining and mapping what is already in place at a national and regional level, an important part of developing a strategic approach to future facility provision will be put in place, as well as establishing the level of need that exists in the sports sector and helping to determine future priorities. As I have previously explained, the enormity of completing the full audit of sports facilities should not be underestimated and, given the experience of other countries, is likely to take a number of years.
With London 2012 on the horizon, there is the possibility that athletes and teams from other countries may consider using Ireland as a training base in the years leading up to the Olympics. Ireland possesses the advantages of being in the same climatic and time zones as London, being within an hour by air travel, and Ireland will avoid most of the media hype that one often finds in the host country.
In order to ensure Ireland benefits from the proximity of the London 2012 Olympic Games, I have established a London 2012 task force made up of experts from sporting, business, tourism and cultural interests. This group will work to ensure Ireland is an attractive training base for Olympic athletes in the run-up to 2012 and Ireland also benefits from the tourism, business and cultural opportunities arising from the hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London in 2012.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House.
If Ireland is to be attractive to potential participating athletes, access to high quality sporting and ancillary facilities must be available. In this regard, my Department is currently undertaking, as a separate exercise, a sports infrastructural audit of facilities that might be suitable to develop to meet the training needs of overseas teams preparing for the 2012 Olympics. Department officials have already held discussions with national governing bodies of sport and have been in touch with third level institutions to establish the type, range and suitability of the sports facilities available for this purpose.
The Olympic Council of Ireland has identified a number of individual sports facilities that may require some upgrade work to bring them up to the standard required by Olympic athletes. Universities are also well placed to provide packages of sporting, accommodation and ancillary facilities. A limited number of local authority facilities may be worth considering for the training camps.
Over the coming months, this audit process will be completed in line with the standards set out by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. We will then have a clearer picture of the facilities likely to be attractive to participating athletes in the build-up to London 2012 and my Department will then examine whether investment may be required to bring these facilities up to the required standard. Any expenditure on facilities will be aimed not only at attracting teams but also at ensuring a lasting legacy for Irish sports.
Mr. Gogarty: I was not here for that reply, but I will ask a question on the assumption that the reply given was what I anticipated. The programme for Government in 2002 suggested that a nationwide audit of sports facilities would be a priority within this Government's term of office. It now appears that this audit will not be completed by the next general election. In essence, the programme for Government has not been met and the Minister will be going before the electorate without having carried out the audit as promised.
Is the Minister aware that audits have been successfully carried out in major cities across the UK? This has enabled them to target the type of sporting investment that is needed to promote sport among young people. In the absence of a proper audit of sports facilities, we are throwing away money and not giving a good opportunity in life to our children.
Mr. O'Donoghue: Deputy Gogarty has raised this issue on a number of occasions. A working group has been established to oversee the detailed work of the audit. The group held a number of meetings.
Mr. Gogarty: It will not be finished before next June.
Mr. O'Donoghue: The sub-group has decided that the audit will be undertaken on a number of places to speed up the availability of information. The experience in the North of Ireland was that an audit of this nature could take anything up to two and a half years. Work is underway and we want a long-term strategic plan for the provision of sports facilities throughout the country. As part of that process, a national audit of local sports facilities is underway.
Ms C. Murphy: Does the Minister agree that the groups that will do poorly in an audit are in locations that have been subject to recent development? Deputy Gogarty's constituency and my own constituency are examples of that. With the time lag involved, we must play catch up as a consequence.
Was an audit of facilities carried out by the sports partnerships? Is there a deal of information out there already? The last reply I got to this question was that it would be a difficult process and that national facilities that would be audited first, followed by regional and local facilities. However, local facilities have the most direct impact on communities. It often takes a while for a community to be developed enough to raise the matching funding, which creates its own time lag.
Mr. O'Donoghue: I agree with the Deputy that facilities are still required in many parishes across the country. That is why we are continuing with the sports capital programme as aggressively as possible. The reason the audit is taking such a time is because of the amount of work involved. All the facilities across the country have to be included in the audit. They include not just key national facilities but, for example, GAA grounds, rugby and soccer grounds, university sports campuses, local authority sport centres, synthetic athletic tracks and swimming pools as well as facilities in primary and post-primary schools. In addition there are the facilities which have benefited under the sports capital programme. One has to identify, as well, facilities provided by voluntary organisations as well as those available in the community generally which might have received grant assistance from other Government Departments.
We are conducting the audit in two phases and trying to complete it as quickly as we can while obtaining as much information as possible on key national and regional facilities. I have indicated to Deputy Wall in reply to an earlier question as regards the London Olympics in 2012, that we are dealing with that separately and distinctly.
Mr. Gogarty: Will the Minister say whether a financial or a staffing problem is preventing the audit from being done as quickly as it could be?
Mr. O'Donoghue: We have only so many staff to carry out a function such as this. Naturally, if we had a plethora of people, it could be done more quickly. We have to operate within our resources, using the staff that are available to us. We are doing this, as quickly as we can.
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