The Government says underwriting the cost of the Rugby World Cup is a sound investment on behalf of the taxpayer.
Ireland will pay the tournament fee of £120 million (€136 million), and today Ireland 2023 made its final pitch ahead of the decision on Nov 15th.
The Taoiseach also pledged to the judges that Brexit will have no affect on the tournament.
Rugby stars Brian O’Driscoll & Niamh Briggs also lined out for Ireland 2023 today, alongside Philip Browne of the IRFU and Sports & Tourism Minister Shane Ross.
I'm in London. The Taoiseach joins the #Ireland2023 team for their final #RWC2023 pitch. French have just been in, their bid in numbers: pic.twitter.com/S6cxp1JgFE
— Chris Donoghue (@chrisrdonoghue) September 25, 2017
12 venues across the island are longlisted as potential hosts - including the 26,000 capacity Nowlan Park, the RDS (18,000 capacity), Pairc Ui Chaoimh (45,000 capacity), Celtic Park (17,000 capacity), and the 82,000 capacity centrepiece venue Croke Park.
Minister Ross suggested the bid is stronger than those being offered by France and South Africa.
He said: "I took a piece of legislation through the Dáil and the Seanad to make this particular bid legally watertight - in other words, it's bulletproof."
Former Ireland captain and bid ambassador Brian O’Driscoll also argued that Ireland will host a far superior tournament to our rivals.
Leo Varadkar, meanwhile, attended the bid today before moving back to the political field when he travelled to Downing Street to meet the British Prime Minister Theresa May.
Reporting by Chris Donoghue and Stephen McNeice
