In July 1999 I established the Irish Sports Council, under the Irish Sports Council Act, 1999, as the statutory body with responsibility, inter alia, for the promotion and development of sport.
Last week, the Sports Council announced grants totalling 7.2 million to 56 governing bodies of sport, which allows them to carry out their core activities of administration, planning, coach education, and international training and competition.
This year's NGB grants will bring to 30 million the total investment in NGBs since the Irish Sports Council was established. It is the third successive annual increase in their grant allocations. This is targeted and strategic investment based on the needs of the sports bodies and their athletes and which is fundamentally transforming the way sport is administered in Ireland.
The council is working closely with the national governing bodies in helping them to improve their organisational capacities and structures, to enhance their administrative systems and to introduce more effective planning processes within their organisations. In the past few years a number of individual governing bodies in sports, such as gymnastics, hockey, basketball and athletics have all merged, resulting in more effective, focused organisations. The council will continue to facilitate the amalgamation and rationalisation of smaller organisations who consider that their structures and sports would benefit from such mergers.