A major campaign is required to educate young people involved in sports that taking performance-enhancing drugs is not just cheating, but potentially lethal, the Labour Party has said.
The party's spokesman on arts, sport and tourism, Mr Jack Wall, said the admission by the Irish Olympic athlete Cathal Lombard that he knowingly took the substance EPO should act as a wake-up call for all sporting organisations in the country.
Labour Party spokesman on arts, sport and tourism, Mr Jack Wall
"Cathal Lombard himself is quoted as saying that doping in sport 'has almost reached epidemic proportions'. While he was probably referring to the international athletics scene, there have been a number of cases in this country over recent years which suggest that this practice is more widespread than any of us would care to admit," Mr Wall said.
"I expect that Cathal Lombard will now be punished in an appropriate way by the authorities but he has done sport and the public some service by admitting the offence. In his frank comments he has thrown a little light on the extent of the doping problem and highlighted the pressures that top-level athletes can face."
Mr Wall said the anti-doping regime operated by the Irish Sports Council had clearly been successful in a number of cases, but the battle to keep sport "clean and honest" must be an ongoing one as new substances are developed and as fresh techniques emerge "to assist the cheats".
"If we are to successfully counter the doping culture, we have to have an intensive campaign to educate young people in all sports that taking performance enhancing substances is not just cheating it is also dangerous to health and, in some cases, potentially lethal.
"The will to win, to come first, has been there as long as human beings have existed. We have to ensure that in encouraging a competitive spirit we do place such pressures on young participants in any sport that they feel compelled to resort to these substances," Mr Wall added.
The 28-year-old middle distance runner from Co Cork admitted he took the banned substance EPO, after testing positive in an out-of-competition test.