Government funding of sport is to move to a multi-annual basis, hopefully from this year, and the next wave of investment in capital projects may be in the kind of multi-sport municipal centres that are widespread across other countries especially France.
They were two of the key messages delivered by Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to the second annual conference of the Federation of Irish Sport in Dublin.
In a wide ranging review of how Government deals with sport, covering education, health, tourism and performance, Varadkar outlined the achievements that had been made possible as well as some of the barriers to what sporting organisations may seek from the taxpayer.
“I knocked on 1,000 doors over the last weeks as part of the local and European election campaign and sport was not on people’s minds as an issue for their elected representatives.”
Taxes
“We live in a system where decisions are influenced by what the people who ultimately pay through their taxes are concerned about and that is an issue for sport.”
“Perhaps it is taken for granted, perhaps it is being done well through voluntary effort on the ground and that is where people see it.”
“Nevertheless we will continue to fight for sport at the highest levels of Government.”
“The Capital Grants programme which we revived last year will this year distribute €40 million in funds to local and regional projects.”
Realistic
“The development of the National Sports Campus has been a real example of how we could look at a project, make it realistic, develop it through partnerships and bring it to life.”
“We have secured funding for the National Indoor Arena which will commence work this year and we recently announced that Special Olympics would join the many other sports governing bodies who are present on the site.”
“We will expand the Irish Institute of Sport with a strength and conditioning area and make it more relevant for sports like boxing which has been such a success for Ireland.”
“2014 will be the last year of a budget based on cuts. Our hope, and what we will fight for is that there will be no further reduction in current spending on sport in this year’s numbers. At a minimum we want parity with the current level and to use that as a platform from which we can begin to grow again.”
Grip
“We are completing a mapping exercise of what Government and agencies are doing in sport, to get a grip on the different ways in which it spreads across public life and administration. Once that is done we can make sure it is working properly.”
“Participation numbers are rising which is good but more needs to be done. An annual increase of 1% is to be applauded but 48% of people being active enough is not enough and that needs to rise.”
“There are limited resources and they need to be attributed correctly. We need to get the balance right between performance and participation.”
“I personally like the French model of municipal sports centres and collaboration on facilities that could see us building two a year and ending up in 2o years time with 40 centres that people are using on a consistent basis across a range of sports.”
The Sports Story
The conference also heard from Hugo MacNeill on the need to tell the sports story better and to articulate the benefits of sport in language that can be more effective, form former Minister for Sport and Irish Sports Council Director Bernard Allen and from Garrett Kelleher who outlined the challenges facing him as a business man owning St Patrick’s Athletic.
Next week we will look in detail at a great presentation from Andy Reid, Chairman of the UK Sport and Recreation Alliance on how to place a real financial value on the benefits of sport; and talk with Brendan Kenny of Dublin City Council about the ways in which local authorities are developing and managing sport.
We will also talk to Irish Rugby Captain and PE Teacher Fiona Coghlan on the respective roles of schools, clubs and parents in getting children active. This will be ahead of our own conference on June 12th looking at how Youth Sport is being and can be developed between sport, business and government. Details of this event can be found below and a limited number of tickets are available.
Join us for the Business of Youth Sport conference at the Dublin Institute of Technology on Thursday June 12th. Book your place today to share, learn and network with your peers on how sport, business and society can work together to boost youth participation in sport.
