Further legislation is to be published by the Irish government in order to combine the Irish Sports Council and the National Sports Campus Development Agency.

Irish transport, tourism and sport minister Leo Varadkar announced the new agency would not be decentralised and would be based at the Sports Campus in Abbotstown, Dublin.

Meanwhile, a separate review is to be undertaken into the roles of Dublin Tourism and the tourism arm of Shannon Development, with a recommendation to be made next year.

Varadkar said: "This process of rationalisation will allow us to cut costs, keep taxes low, and maintain competitiveness over the next five years."