I also offer my congratulations to the Irish cricket team on its wonderful success today. It is one of only a few sports in Ireland that enjoys funding from both sides of the Border. Senator Darragh O'Brien said it had received no capital funding from the Government in the past few years. This year alone it received €487,760. The Senator will find that information on the website of the Irish Sports Council.

What is it for? It is not capital funding.

It is core funding for high performance sports. Cricket Ireland also enjoys the benefits of the Irish Institute of Sport. I was on the board of the Irish Sports Council before I came into the Seanad and cricket was one of the sports targeted for high performance funding. Since 2008, when the cricket team beat Pakistan, the Irish Sports Council has strategically supported cricket and the results are evident in its recent successes. We are accustomed to seeing people come out onto the streets to play tennis during the championships at Wimbledon and in the next few years we will see people come out to play cricket in the same way. It has arguably made more advances than any other sport in Ireland, particularly at international level. I congratulate the Irish Sports Council and the Government on giving their backing to Cricket Ireland.

The Government has not given it any capital backing.

A lot of Senators are batting for the cricket team today and I join them in congratulating the Irish team on its success. I hope they will get to the quarter finals, but they will need another victory. I am glad that Senator Eamonn Coghlan mentioned the grant aid of €487,000 to Cricket Ireland, but Senator Darragh O'Brien made a point about capital funding. If it applies for capital funding, I am sure it can be successful in securing it.

Please God. The Leader should use his good offices to ensure it happens.