As I have indicated previously, my Department has no statutory functions in respect of controls and safety standards for sport and recreation facilities, or for industry relating to such facilities. Responsibility for these matters lies primarily with the organisers of events or activities, and with the management of premises and stadia used for sporting purposes, particularly with regard to compliance with fire safety legislation and building regulations dealt with by the Department of the Environment and Local Government. Matters of public order, of course, are a matter for the Garda Síochána.
The Department of Education facilitated the preparation and publication in January 1996, of detailed, and comprehensive, codes of practice for safety at sports grounds and at outdoor pop concerts for the guidance of organisers and ground administrators.
The codes were prepared by a working party, chaired by a senior local authority official, which also included a senior garda, a chief fire officer, a local authority building surveyor and a local authority senior structural engineer.
The codes were completed following extensive consultations with national sports organisations, stadium management, event promoters and the various statutory and non-statutory authorities involved. The codes are voluntary and have been widely distributed to sports organisations, gardaí, health boards, local authorities, event promoters etc.
Local authorities, gardaí and health boards, of course, play a central role in assisting ground management to meet their responsibilities and may, in certain circumstances, have to insist on specific measures being taken in order to achieve reasonable standards of safety.
The Department of the Environment and Local Government has recently prepared and published a further code of practice dealing specifically with Indoor Pop Concerts.
My Department has responsibility for the development of policy to facilitate and increase participation in sport and recreation. Policy objectives in this area are pursued primarily by way of provision of grants to recognised national governing bodies of sport, and towards the cost of the development and refurbishment of sports facilities. Sports bodies are independent, autonomous organisations which are subject to all the laws and regulations relevant to their activities, such as fire laws, building and public health regulations and, of course, criminal and civil laws.