The Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation has rejected criticism of the Government's proposed national stadium.
Dr McDaid described the decision as marking "an increasing maturity and professionalism - in the best sense of the word - in Irish sport".
The Minister was replying to a Fine Gael private member's motion, moved by the party's spokesman on sport, Mr Bernard Allen, that the Government cease work on the stadium, with the exception of the aquatic centre, and redirect the funding to other sporting outlets.
Mr Allen said the decision to build a stadium came when over 1,600 clubs had applied for grants to build facilities. Nearly 1,000 of them had been rejected, "despite the fact that many clubs are still catering for young people in conditions where they must dress and undress at the side of ditches and roads or in substandard or disused railway containers".
The debate on the motion resumes today.