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Sports Organisations

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 February 2021

Wednesday, 24 February 2021

Questions (262)

Emer Higgins

Question:

262. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if her attention has been drawn to the system used for elite cyclists to gain entry on the high performance unit of Cycling Ireland; if guidelines have been set by Sport Ireland for this elite group in terms of funding and access; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9750/21]

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Written answers

Sport Ireland, which is funded by my Department, is the statutory body with responsibility for the development of sport, including high performance sport and its funding allocations. Sport Ireland provides funding to Cycling Ireland to support the operation of its high performance programme. There are two streams of funding allocated by Sport Ireland which are central to the delivery of Cycling Ireland’s programme including High Performance Programme Funding and the International Carding Scheme.

High Performance Programme Funding is provided to support a range of activities including salaries, training camps and competitions at junior and senior level, pathway development, and performance services. In 2020, Cycling Ireland received €440,000 in High Performance Programme Funding.

The International Carding Scheme provides financial support to athletes for their training and competition programmes. The primary purpose of this funding is to support Irish athletes in reaching finals and achieving medals at European, World, Olympic and Paralympic level. The Scheme is criteria based, requiring athletes to achieve standards set forth by their NGB in agreement with Sport Ireland. These standards are based on performances achieved at international competitions. Athletes are considered and approved for funding by Sport Ireland based on applications received from Cycling Ireland. As part of the International Carding Scheme Sport Ireland allocated €426,000 to Cycling Ireland, which was made up of €224,000 for their Olympic Programme and €202,000 for their Paralympic Programme.

Further to those listed on the International Carding Scheme, Sport Ireland recognises that there will be other athletes who will require support from the NGB, specifically those who are tracking to compete in Paris 2024. Sport Ireland has recently engaged with Cycling Ireland who have confirmed their intention to establish an alternative mechanism of support for those athletes which may include service provision, training camp and competition exposure, or direct athlete funding through alternative resources. Cycling Ireland will be responsible for developing this mechanism of support recognising it must be sport specific and reflective of the capacity within the NGB.

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