Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for accepting this matter for discussion on the Adjournment, as well as for your courtesy during the lifetime of the current Seanad. I believe this is probably the last hurrah in that respect. I welcome the Minister of State to the House and congratulate him on his elevation to ministerial office. I wish him great success in his portfolio. I know that he is very capable of handling the many issues that will come before him in the years ahead.

While he is not the Minister responsible for this subject matter, I know he has an interest in sport and fair play. The Department of Finance has an interest in ensuring that best use is made of public money and I will declare a few interests in this respect. First, I chaired the committee that produced this report entitled "The Olympics - from Athens to London". Second, I am currently president of the Council of Europe's youth and sport committee. While there seems to be a question mark over the precedent which meant that people could stay on that committee after the elections, I hope I will get a chance to remain on it until June at least because I am currently involved in compiling a report on organised crime in sport, including the issue of match fixing. The latter issue is an integral one to be resolved by sports governance, which is why I am raising this matter on the Adjournment. I am interested in what has progressed since November 2005 when we examined Ireland's record in Athens. We deliberately did not examine the progress made between Athens and Beijing because there was not enough time to address the problems within the sports sector at that stage. When London was awarded the 2012 Olympics we were excited that Ireland would be a major beneficiary of those games, not just regarding our participation and getting more people interested in sport due to the proximity of the London games, but also regarding a spin-off through having our own sports facilities used for pre-Olympic training.

The issues I dealt with then and those I have been dealing with now have overlapped. I acknowledge the role of Irish Olympic Council president, Mr. Pat Hickey, who attended a conference with me which was organised by the International Olympic Committee on 1 March this year. It was to have dealt solely with integrity in sport, but it also tackled the issue of irregular betting and gambling on sporting events. The IOC was concerned that the 2012 games may not be free and fair due to being impacted by organised crime in the form of spread betting. That may be something that comes under the Minister of State's remit when his Department examines legislation on gambling, including internet betting.