Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 February 2022
50. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if an update will be provided on her work to promote women in sport; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10320/22]
View answerEquality in sport is a key priority for both myself and Minister Catherine Martin. Our overall vision for women in sport is one where women have an equal opportunity to achieve their full potential while enjoying a lifelong involvement in sport.
A fundamental aim of the Government’s National Sports Policy 2018-2027 is to increase the levels of participation in sport and physical activity across the population, with a specific focus on less represented groups including women and girls. A lot of good progress is being made, not just in terms of increasing participation by women and girls but also in the important areas of leadership and management roles in sport.
The Women in Sport funding programme is an important support for sporting bodies in putting programmes in place to increase women’s participation in their sports and to progress their strategic objectives for women in sport. Last year, Sport Ireland announced an investment of €4m in the Women in Sport Programme for the two years 2021 and 2022. 45 NGBs will receive funding under this investment. A further €265,000 was invested last year in the Local Sports Partnerships under the Programme.
One of my priorities in 2021 was to eliminate the funding gap that existed in grant funding for male and female Gaelic players and I am very pleased to have achieved that aim and ensured that we have now parity in terms of that grant funding. Additional funding has been provided for enhanced support of female inter-county Gaelic games players on an equivalent basis to that being provided for their male counterparts. This additional provision brings the total amount available for female players in this context to €2.4m. This is a very important development for women’s sport and demonstrates the Government’s commitment to equality in sport.
The aim in the National Sport Policy 2018-2027 is to eliminate the gender participation gap in sport entirely by 2027. The 2019 Irish Sports Monitor Report showed that the gender gap in sports participation was 3.4%, narrower than at any point over the past ten years.
While the Irish Sports Monitor report for the first quarter of 2021 showed that the gender gap was eliminated during the Covid-19 restrictions, the latest Irish Sports Monitor figures for Quarter 3 show that a gender gap is beginning to re-emerge as COVID 19 restrictions are lifted. The emerging gradient is cause for focus and ongoing monitoring. To this end, many National Governing Bodies are delivering Women in Sport and Dormant Accounts Funded Programmes this winter which will actively target populations that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic including females, economically and socially disadvantaged communities, people with a disability and ethnic minorities.
Addressing women’s participation at all levels in sport is an important element of the National Sports Policy. That includes women in leadership positions such as board members of National Governing Bodies. The National Sports Policy had originally set a target of 30% of either gender on the Boards of funded bodies by 2027. In the new Action Plan for Sport 2021-2023, which was published in November 2021, we have set a revised target for all NGBs to achieve 40% gender representation on their boards by the end of 2023. It is a particular priority for me to enable women to take more leadership positions in sport and the 40% target reflects this prioritisation.
While there has been good progress for women in sport, there are still challenges that need to be addressed. My officials and I continue to work closely with Sport Ireland and the sport sector with a view to achieving a much improved landscape for women and girls in sport.
