Addressing women’s participation at all levels in sport is an important element of the National Sports Policy and a core priority for me and Minister Catherine Martin. That includes women in leadership positions such as board members of National Governing Bodies (NGBs).
The Sports Action Plan sets a target for all NGBs to achieve 40% gender representation on their boards by the end of this year. It is a priority to enable women to take more leadership positions in sport and the 40% target reflects this prioritisation.
The most recent Board Composition Snapshot, which was published by Sport Ireland in December 2022, shows that the average percentage of women on boards of NGBs has increased from 24% in 2019 to 36% in 2022. The Snapshot also highlights that 33 sporting organisations have already achieved 40% or more female representation on their boards.
Sport Ireland will continue to provide support to NGBs towards achieving the target of 40% and will monitor and report on progress.
Failure by sporting organisations to achieve 40% gender balance on their boards by the end of this year will have significant funding implications. Officials in my Department will be engaging with Sport Ireland to provide clarity on what these funding implications will mean in practice. In that context, I have asked that all supports and funding streams – both current and capital – that are currently available to sporting organisations via Sport Ireland and my Department be examined as part of this process.
