Thursday, September 19, 2024

Martin: Additional €400 million for sport to be announced

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Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said an additional €400 million will be announced for sport in the coming weeks.

The Sports Capital and Equipment Programme is expected to get at least €250 million, while the next round of the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund is expected to see an additional €120 million.

This will also include funding for the new national velodrome and badminton centre, which ministers gave approval for last week.

Speaking to media this afternoon, Mr Martin said that if Ireland wants to grow its talent then investment must be for facilities and personnel.

“Increasingly we can facilitate good development of capacities for talent in our community, through investment in facilities but also for governance,” he said.

The Tánaiste described coaching as “a key aspect” of this.

Mr Martin said he looks forward to “tendering documents for the national velodrome and of course the badminton centre, which will be for the significant infrastructure developments at a national level for key sports”.

Mr Martin and Thomas Byrne spoke to the media earlier today

Meanwhile Minister of State with responsibility for sport Thomas Byrne said the increase in funding for sport is “an absolute ironclad commitment”.

Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week programme, Mr Byrne said the rise in funding will allow athletes to train closer to home.

“It’s an essential need for our sporting infrastructure in the country and it will happen,” he said.

“We will see a step change in facilities all around the country,” he said.

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The minister noted plans for a velodrome in the National Sports Campus and the badminton centre, which, he said, “has been authorised to go to tender”.

“The biggest complaint of our international cyclists is that the facilities aren’t here, so we are changing that,” he said.

“If you go around the country, you will see facilities coming up in a huge range of sports, that is actually happening on the ground,” he added.

Mr Byrne said he believed “the funding is assured from a Government level over the next number of years”.

“That will increase,” he added.

The Fianna Fáil TD said he could guarantee that there will be significantly more funding for elite athletes as well as the grassroots.

He said that already, funding for elite sports has doubled from the previous Olympics, which he said was well deserved and needed.

Mr Byrne said the the Government had signed off on a swimming strategy (File image)

Minister Byrne said that no money from the department would be given to the horse or greyhound racing industry.

“This funding comes from the Department of Agriculture, and from the gambling levy, and it was a matter for them,” he said.

“I’m focused on doubling the sports budget,” he added.

Regarding infrastructure for swimming, Mr Byrne said the the Government had signed off on a swimming strategy with Swim Ireland and other stakeholders.

This will be published in the coming weeks, he said.

Minister Byrne said he is “going to fight really hard with our boxers to make sure that boxing is retained as an Olympic sport”.

“That’s a big question for boxing in Ireland and around the world as to what direction that sport takes,” he said.

“There’s big decisions to be made, we are here to help,” he added.

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