I am taking the Chair in the absence of the Chairman, Deputy Keaveney. I welcome the representatives of Swim Ireland, formerly the Irish Amateur Swimming Association, Mr. Tony Farrell, chairperson; Ms Sarah Keane, chief executive officer; and Ms Kate Hills, national children's officer, who will make a presentation on their activities, with particular reference to implementation of the Murphy report on child sexual abuse in swimming. The privilege enjoyed by members does not extend to witnesses.
Swim Ireland: Presentation.
Mr. Tony Farrell
As chairman of Swim Ireland, I thank the joint committee for giving us the opportunity to meet it. As a parent, I have been involved in swimming from club level up for more than 15 years. I am accompanied by Ms Sarah Keane, our chief executive officer who has been involved in swimming competitively, as a pastime or in an administrative capacity for over 20 years, and Swim Ireland's national children's officer Kate Hills, child protection in sport tutor and one of the first children's officers to be engaged among sports governing bodies in Ireland.
The Irish Amateur Swimming Association was established in 1893 to operate the sport of swimming. It has undergone many changes during the years and is better known by its trading name, Swim Ireland. Swim Ireland is recognised across the 32 counties as the national governing body for swimming and associated aquatic sports. It has just over 12,000 members in 140 clubs, with approximately 1,500 people involved in leadership, administration, education and coaching on a voluntary basis week in, week out. The organisation is led by an 11 person board of volunteer directors voted in annually by its members. Operational activity is managed by a professional and administrative staff of eight led by our chief executive officer. While incorporated as a private company, Swim Ireland is largely dependent on Government funding to carry out its work.
I will hand over to our chief executive officer who will complete the presentation.
Ms Sarah Keane
For us, our passion is swimming. It offers many positives as a sport and a form of recreation; it is a life skill and a form of exercise that is accessible to people of all physical abilities. As a sport, it is a character builder. We want to continually promote these attributes. The board is working with members to finalise a strategy to develop the sport in the next five years. Within it, we are seeking to increase the number of participants in swimming and the numbers actively supporting them. To achieve this, we will have to educate and develop more coaches and leaders, promote the sport and recruit members. This takes resources — people and money. To develop, swimming also needs physical resources, be it for elite, competitive or participation level swimming. We do not have the scale of facilities or the staff needed that would enable a higher scale and standard of participation to be sustainable. We would like to focus on this issue alone at this meeting. Regrettably, however, we cannot merely focus on our aims for the future, as the recent history of the administration of swimming has not reflected the positive attributes of our sport. Instead, it has been dominated by matters relating to child sexual abuse.
Committee members will be aware that in the 1990s two Irish swimming coaches were charged following serious allegations of child sexual abuse. Derry O'Rourke was convicted and imprisoned, while George Gibney left Ireland and is now reported to be living in an American state from which extradition appears to be difficult. While those criminal cases have either been completed or stalled, there are legal issues outstanding. The issues of governance raised by these cases have had to be prioritised in our work. We are well aware that public confidence in the administration of swimming will only begin to be restored when these issues are seen to be adequately dealt with.
The Murphy report was commissioned in 1998 by the then Minister, Deputy McDaid, as an independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in swimming. The report noted its findings and made a number of recommendations in this regard. As one of the first reports of this type, the audience for Judge Murphy's work was much wider than just the swimming community. The report had repercussions for all Irish sports bodies and many other organisations working with children. The report also made recommendations for Government, schools, local authorities and what is now the HSE.
The primary focus of the report was to ensure that the swimming community had structures and procedures in place for the effective prevention and handling of such issues. Judge Murphy made over 100 recommendations to be implemented specifically to make swimming a better and safer sport for children in Ireland. The issues addressed in the report struck to the core of swimming in Ireland and needed to be addressed unequivocally.
Reports such as the Murphy report are only useful if they are acted on and changes are made. Swim Ireland accepts its obligations to ensure that swimming is taking place in a safe and healthy environment for our children and since the report's publication in 1998, it has set out to implement the guidelines set out by Judge Murphy for the administration and governance of swimming in this country.
What have we done? The recommendations in the Murphy report had two main streams. First was the restructuring of Swim Ireland as an organisation as a whole to have clubs affiliate and directly link with the national governing body. Second was the establishment and implementation of child-centred child protection policies and procedures.
The recommended restructuring and policies and procedures have been implemented by Swim Ireland. We now have a strong and robust set of child welfare guidelines that are extensively communicated and governed throughout the national, regional and club structures of swimming in Ireland. This has happened on a progressive basis since 1998 and these procedures will continue to be reviewed and updated. Furthermore, where new documents or legislation have superseded Murphy, Swim Ireland has updated its guidelines accordingly. For example, the reporting procedure guidelines, as per the Irish Sports Council's code of ethics, are now more detailed than those proposed by Murphy and are, therefore, the standard to which we willingly operate.
In 1998, immediately following the Murphy report, and in line with the code of ethics first published by the Department of Education and Science in 1996, Swim Ireland developed and issued renewed child welfare guidelines in response to Murphy. These were further reviewed and revised when the second version of the code of ethics was published in November 2000 by the Irish Sports Council in line with then best practice in children's sport. That revision was followed by participation by Swim Ireland in a Sports Council implementation and training programme for the code of ethics.
Since then there have been a number of updated publications and legislative changes, such as Children First, issued by the Department of Health and Children in 1999; Our Duty to Care, issued by the same Department in 2002; Protection for Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act 1998; and the Children Act 2001. Current legislation in Northern Ireland is in the form of the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (NI) Order 2003 and the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 has just been passed with a view to becoming an order in 2008.
Earlier this year, Swim Ireland published new child welfare guidelines, which were revised simultaneously with the revision of the Irish Sports Council code of ethics 2006. Copies of both of these have been circulated to committee members. As mentioned in the introduction, we have appointed a dedicated children's officer to our staff.
In order to create a child-centred mindset and harness our child protection policy within the organisation, the following are just some of the mandatory initiatives we have taken. It is a condition of membership that all Swim Ireland members must adhere to the Irish Sports Council's code of ethics and the Swim Ireland guidelines; for clubs to affiliate to Swim Ireland, a children's officer and coach from each club are required to attend the ISC child protection in sport workshop; Swim Ireland clubs must engage in training on child protection policies and procedures; a club children's officer is required in all clubs; a club designated person is required in all clubs; from January 2007 all coaches, teachers, children's officers and designated persons must have attended the required training; the Swim Ireland board of management must complete the Irish Sports Council's child protection in sport training; all Swim Ireland staff must complete the Irish Sports Council child protection in sport training; Swim Ireland has established a code of ethics committee comprising four provincial children's officers to lead the delivery of the child welfare programme which is ongoing; we have a continuous roll out of child protection in sport training around the country; we have recruited and appointed a dedicated national children's officer, one of the first appointments of its kind in Irish sport; and Swim Ireland will be part of the Garda vetting pilot group for sports organisations commencing in late 2006.
Clearly, the Murphy recommendations, which are of specific reference to a sports organisation, were in the first place a matter for those with a responsibility for the administration of swimming in Ireland. Swim Ireland, however, also sought external verification of the work being done. It works very closely with the Irish Sports Council in many areas, in particular with regard to the implementation of the Irish Sports Council's code of ethics and related guidelines. Indeed, we very much want to note our indebtedness to the Irish Sports Council for its sustained support and guidance.
In addition, we are working closely with the Health Service Executive in a number of areas and contexts with regard to our guidelines and ongoing work. Committee members will note recent correspondence in that respect which has been copied to them. We have also engaged with a number of relevant child-centred organisations, such as One in Four and the ISPCC, with a view to building relationships with and learning from such organisations.
On the work now required, having undergone an in-depth review and restructuring in recent years of all that we do as an organisation and how we do it, we have come to a point where we believe that all that can be done independently by Swim Ireland to respond to the recommendations in the Murphy report has been completed. Substantial progress has been made by Swim Ireland, as noted in the recent Deloitte report, a copy of which has been supplied to members.
The work can never stop. Eight years on from the Murphy report we live in a more informed and demanding society. Many changes have taken place in best practice and there is new legislation on child welfare issues. We believe from our experience that we and everyone with similar obligations must now go beyond the parameters set by Murphy. We want to assure committee members that we are very committed to continuing positively and proactively with our work in this regard. We believe strongly that it is appropriate that our continued progress in the area of child welfare be guided by the Department of Health and Children's document, Children First, and the Irish Sports Council's code of ethics and good practice for children's sport. These documents reflect the most up to date direction on best practice in child welfare and protection.
Where does Swim Ireland go from here? There is a strong and natural desire on all our parts to have the opportunity to focus again on the positive aspects of swimming as a cradle to grave sport, as noted earlier. That said, we recognise that the past cannot be ignored, and we hope this is clear today. We must continue to work together to create and maintain a safe environment where swimming can be enjoyed and developed as a sport and a pastime. As the national governing body, we in Swim Ireland must lead and set the tone for values within our organisation and across all elements and disciplines.
We must both deal with and learn from our history. While we must never allow ourselves to forget, we must move forward. That will not be accomplished easily or overnight. We are under no illusions as to the challenges still ahead. However, we are confident as an organisation that we are operating appropriately and know that we must manage both our past and our future. Our confidence is based in particular on the spirit and energy of the many hundreds of people within the organisation who work hard, week in and out and often in face of adversity, to make and maintain swimming in Ireland as a safe sport and pastime. These volunteers often get little recognition for the good work they are doing in sport for children.
We also take confidence from the structure of the robust verified policies and frameworks now in place that in themselves are protectors for our children. We also have in place the procedures to act instantly and decisively on any threat or allegation. In developing these procedures we request the committee's support for the view that the Irish Sports Council's code of ethics and good practice for children's sport 2006, Children First and the national guidelines for the protection and welfare of children 1999 be used as the benchmark and model point of reference for best practice in child welfare in our sport.
The business of our organisation is sport. The 2004 joint ISC-ESRI report entitled, Sports Participation and Health among Adults in Ireland, shows that swimming is one of the most participated in activity or sport in this country and we must build on this fact. Without ever lessening the grip on our responsibilities for safety, we must now also use our energies to build a positive future for Irish swimming.
Swim Ireland has high hopes for the future. We are currently finalising a new 2007 to 2012 strategy. It has some exciting ideas and concrete targets for growing and developing our sport, increasing opportunities, developing leaders and developing facilities.
The difficulties of our past have meant less moneys have been available to be spent on the development of our sport in recent years and opportunities from commercial sources have become non-existent. Relative to where it should be and relative to the merits of its capability to contribute positively to the world around it, swimming in Ireland is very far behind in the development of our sport compared to other swimming bodies and other Irish sports organisations.
We have worked very hard as an organisation to catch up. The recent Deloitte report referred to earlier notes:
Operationalising the ambitious elements of the Swim Ireland Strategic Plans will always pose a major challenge for Swim Ireland particularly in circumstances where accepted resource deficiencies are the limiting factor.
We are led by a voluntary board of individuals who want to promote and develop our sport. For those impacted upon by the past, we owe it to them to learn from the past, to implement the Murphy report and to always ensure that child welfare is to the forefront of our priorities. For Ireland's current and future swimmers, we owe it to them to build a positive and fruitful future for Irish swimming and associated aquatic disciplines. As we look forward, the sport will need the continued input and support of a wider community in different ways. We ask for the goodwill and support of the committee in these respects. I again thank the committee very much for the opportunity to meet it today.
I thank the delegation for that excellent presentation.
I join the Vice Chairman in welcoming Ms Keane, Mr. Farrell and Ms Hills. Swimming is a very important skill and an excellent sport which can be enjoyed from a very young age to a late age. Babies can swim in pools with their grandparents or great-grandparents and they can enjoy the recreation together. Swimming can be a means of access to other sports. For example, surfing has become a very popular sport for girls in Ballybunion. It seems that 90% of those surfing in Ballybunion are girls. Others may want to surf but they cannot participate because they cannot swim. The ESRI report notes that it is a very popular sport and it would share that popularity with walking, but there are still many people in this country who do not know how to swim. One of the reasons is lack of direct access to swimming pools. Although the situation is improving in this regard, there are still parts of the country where schools and individuals do not have access to swimming pools and they are unable to learn the skills.
Swim Ireland has a critical role to play. The statistic of 300,000 Irish children being obese and overweight is increasing by 10%, or 30,000, every year. It is very important that Swim Ireland puts structures in place and reaches its full potential to give instruction, provide coaches and drive the policy of promoting the sport of swimming.
There is reason for optimism. Ms Keane is a solicitor and a former international water polo player who has won a number of national swimming championships. This is a very good combination for her current job. She has knowledge of a sport which is immersed in legal issues. In its response to the Murphy and Deloitte reports, Swim Ireland has faced up to the challenges. I note that the delegation has acknowledged the serious problems. The organisation is not trying to run away from those problems or abandon those people who were victimised or abused over the years. It wishes to resolve the outstanding issues, but to move forward for the sake of swimming.
I will ask some questions based on the presentation. This is a very important opportunity for all members of the committee to ask questions.
How many law cases are outstanding and are cases still coming through? Victims of abuse often experience flashbacks later in life. Of how many cases of abuse is the organisation aware? How many cases are currently before the courts? How much of the organisation's budget is taken up with litigation or legal matters? Does this restrict the use of the budget for the development of the sport? Do the costs associated with court proceedings and legal fees reduce the level of funding available to the organisation for supporting the sport of swimming? Funding was withdrawn entirely from Swim Ireland in 2003. Did this have a significant effect on the sport? It is probable that questions left hanging over the sport did not encourage corporate sponsorship. What sponsorship is available to the organisation?
The delegation stated that the organisation wants to move on from the Deloitte and Murphy reports and embrace the code of ethics of the Irish Sports Council and the HSE report. The Murphy report made a number of recommendations to Government. Has the Government implemented these recommendations by means of legislation? The organisation may have an overview.
I refer to swimming coaches who work all over the country. Must all swimming coaches be registered with Swim Ireland? Does an accreditation system exist? Is anyone coaching young people required to be registered with Swim Ireland? Does Swim Ireland vet swimming coaches in the country or is any such system in place?
I am sure the chairman will recommend that Swim Ireland's proposal be forwarded to the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, which I would support.
Ms Keane
I thank the Deputy for his comments. There are 15 outstanding legal cases relating to Swim Ireland. I cannot say much about them, as they are current. They all relate to Derry O'Rourke and have been ongoing since 1998. I have two things to say on withdrawal of funding and budgets. As an organisation we can now stand over the policies, procedures and structures in place. We are in a position to deliver for the people in the sport of swimming and the associated aquatic disciplines across the Thirty-two Counties. Perhaps in the past we were not as well based to do so. Funding has an impact on how we carry out our work. We have had our funding withdrawn twice since 1998, which has had a major impact on the individual swimmers, divers and water polo players involved in the sport. However, there is a sense within the swimming community and the associated aquatic disciplines sporting community that as an organisation we are facing up to our past and are moving forward.
We probably spend 10% of our budget on legal fees. Those fees come from our own money: we cannot use Government or Irish Sports Council funding to pay those fees. It is a high figure for the sport and has been higher in previous years. It has an impact on the sport.
Due to our history it is very difficult for us to obtain any kind of commercial sponsorship or investment. Swim Ireland is still associated with the difficulties of the past. We owe it to our organisation to create a future. We do not want to move away from the Murphy report and what happened. We want to move away from the Murphy document as a benchmark for current child welfare. It is a very serious issue for us. We want to be ever vigilant and this matter will always be at the forefront of our minds. However, we owe it to the people in swimming now and in the future to create a future for our sport and to develop it. Currently much of our energies and efforts have been put into what they would see as intangible matters regarding structures, policies, procedures and guidelines. That needed to be done. However, it has been done. We will remain vigilant. We need to keep renewing and continually updating.
We now need to start putting money and effort into making swimming accessible to everybody. We need to ensure it is something into which parents feel confident putting their children. We need to try to build public confidence again into our sport. I am a swimmer: that is my background. I know the positive attributes that can be gained from the sport. Along with Mr. Farrell and Ms Hills, I believe strongly that it is a lost opportunity for Irish people if they are not provided with the chance to get involved in our sport. We have not been able to deliver that opportunity in the way we would have liked as a result of our past. However, we hope to move forward and create more and better opportunities for children and adults in our sport.
On the issue that the Government should have implemented——
Mr. Farrell
Before handing over, I wish to make one other point on funding. Our moneys have been impacted because of litigation. Owing to legal fees incurred in 2004 at last year's AGM we needed to ask our members to pay a levy to assist us in this regard. It shows the enthusiasm they have for the sport. While affiliation fees are difficult for families, they were prepared to pay a levy. That shows how strongly our volunteers and those involved in swimming feel about our sport.
Ms Hills will answer the Deputy's final two questions.
Ms Kate Hills
A number of areas in the Murphy recommendations involve the Government. The main one that stands out relates to the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act. Swim Ireland has a safety statement as part of our policies and procedures. We are in the process of updating that statement. The changes in the legislation do not come under our remit. There is reference to schools and employing coaches. I hope to be able to answer that question under the coaches' section. Reference was made to the HSE when complaints are received and the instigation of a national helpline. We have a national helpline for adults involving counsellors. It is made available to all our swimmers and anybody who gets involved in the organisation and forms part of the child-protection training we carry out.
The Deputy asked whether all coaches are registered with Swim Ireland. All the coaches used under the umbrella of our organisation need to be registered members with Swim Ireland. Our guidelines require that any coach coaching or teaching in our clubs be a registered member of Swim Ireland. This forms part and parcel of the recruitment and selection process that clubs undergo when taking on a new coach. However, this does not account for any coaches working outside our organisation. Some coaches and teachers who work in private swim schools do not have a requirement to be under our umbrella. Coaches and teachers may be working in leisure centres. It is not mandatory that the coaches employed by schools to teach come under our umbrella. As they do not come under our umbrella, our guidelines are not enforced with them. Does that answer the Deputy's question?
Yes.
Ms Keane
We are trying to raise awareness of the work we are doing. A parent bringing a child to a swimming class should ask whether the coach or teacher is a Swim Ireland member. People with such membership get the relevant child-protection training, should be qualified to the right level and are bound by our guidelines and rules. Without that assurance we know nothing about where that person comes from, what their qualification is or what training they have.
Ms Hills
All the coaches affiliated to Swim Ireland must sign up annually to agree to our guidelines and code of ethics. There is also a disclosure statement requiring coaches to outline whether they have ever been required to leave a sports organisation. That forms part and parcel of our annual sign-up procedure once they are in our organisation.
I welcome the delegation from Swim Ireland. It is wonderful for us to have an exchange of views on a very positive part of Irish sport, which is Swim Ireland. The one advantage members of Swim Ireland have over members of all other sports bodies is that theirs is the only sport in which a person can save another person's life, be it on a river, a lake or at sea. If a person is involved in Swim Ireland, he or she has the potential to be a good swimmer and to save somebody else's life. That is a huge advantage. It puts pressure on public representatives and sports organisations like Swim Ireland to encourage as many people as possible to become good swimmers and, potentially, to become lifesavers in their communities. It is wonderful for any organisation to be able to work in such a manner. Public representatives should work with such organisations to ensure that the maximum levels of facilities and funding are made available to them at all stages.
Ms Keane spoke about the unfortunate and sad events which led to the publication of the Murphy report. Nobody who is currently involved in Swim Ireland can be associated with the events in question. I appreciate that the representatives of Swim Ireland have made it clear that they are not forgetting those events. I also appreciate that the organisation needs to move on. It cannot stay static; if it does so, it will not develop as the organisation we would like it to be. We want people to be involved in swimming, to enjoy it as a form of recreation and to participate at a competitive level if necessary. People do not always want to play sport competitively. Many people are happy to swim recreationally, for example with their friends. If we continue to refer to the Murphy report when dealing with Swim Ireland, we will defeat the purpose of the report.
I am delighted that Swim Ireland's impressive presentation included a policy statement on child care. We will talk about a certain word in the document on a future occasion. I am pleased that procedures have been put in place to ensure that everybody involved with Swim Ireland has the necessary qualifications, etc. Those procedures will benefit members of swimming clubs and give confidence to people like the members of the Swim Ireland delegation who have come through what I imagine must have been a very difficult time. The positive nature of Swim Ireland's presentation speaks volumes for what the organisation wants to do. The members of the committee should support the organisation in that regard. We will support Swim Ireland in every way possible because it has the potential to become involved in every community. It is obvious that swimming facilities are not available in every community, however. It is disappointing that more swimming pools have not been developed. We all acknowledge that efforts are being made in the local authority, voluntary and commercial sectors to provide more swimming pools in communities throughout the country.
I would like to ask a number of questions. With how many primary and secondary schools is Swim Ireland involved? To what extent does the work of Swim Ireland and its officials relate to the education sector? How many schools are actively involved with Swim Ireland? How many schools use the swimming facilities which are available in their localities, or in nearby neighbourhoods? Mr. Farrell mentioned that 140 swimming clubs are affiliated to Swim Ireland. How many of them have their own facilities? Do the clubs in the various areas have to rent local facilities for the purposes of their activities?
I have argued strongly for the use by local schools of the Department of Defence's swimming pool in The Curragh, one of the best facilities in the country. I was told by the Minister for Defence that there are not enough trained personnel in the Defence Forces to allow the facility to be used by more people. It seems a terrible waste that the pool in question is not being made available to a number of swimming clubs in the area, in addition to the local schools, because there are not enough trained personnel in the Defence Forces to allow it to be used to the maximum extent. If we have such a facility, we should use it 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It is disappointing that commercial organisations are reluctant to support young people who are involved in swimming. That is as disappointing as anything else we have heard today. As a consequence of past incidents, such organisations have decided not to give the benefit of the doubt to those who will help Swim Ireland to develop. I hope the commercial entities in question will reflect on their positions. It is important that funding is offered to organisations like Swim Ireland. Those involved in Swim Ireland should not have to spend up to 40% of their time trying to collect funds voluntarily, time which could be better used to train young people to be swimmers, to save lives, to get involved in recreational swimming with their friends and to participate in the community. I hope that trend will change as a result of the excellent presentation made here today, the policy statements which have been developed and the involvement of Swim Ireland and the Irish Sports Council in putting in place measures to ensure the safety and protection of children. I will do everything I can to help Swim Ireland. I appreciate the presentation that was made by its representatives.
Ms Keane
I will try to address the Deputy's question about schools. Swim Ireland's strategy for the years between 2007 and 2012 focuses on schools. The organisation has not really been able to have much impact in schools because its resources are limited. The extent to which schools are involved in swimming depends on the policies of individual schools, which in turn are affected by the proximity of swimming facilities and the ability of management committees to come up with the funds to get pupils to such facilities. We have not been in a position to deploy people on the ground to try to get more schools involved in swimming. We have not been able to develop the kind of links we would like between swimming clubs and learn-to-swim programmes in schools. We work with the Irish Swimming Schools Association, which is affiliated to Swim Ireland. We have increased the number of schools that participate in competitive swimming. We feel that this area can be developed significantly. Many children get exposed through the education system to sporting opportunities which they might not otherwise encounter. We would like to have the resources to make substantial progress in this regard. This area is dealt with in our strategy for the years between 2007 and 2012. The role of schools in swimming is underdeveloped.
Mr. Farrell
I will respond to Deputy Wall's question about swimming clubs. I am not aware of any swimming club in Ireland that has a private pool. The swimming club in Galway with which I am involved uses the Leisureland facilities. The swimming pools in Ballinasloe and Tuam have been refurbished in recent years. I understand that the pools in question, which used to be local pools, are now being run by corporations. The swimming clubs in those areas have to pay to use the pools. I can inform the committee that the expenses incurred by clubs which use the Leisureland facilities are absolutely astronomical. Similar costs have to be met by other clubs in certain parts of the country.
Having spoken to Deputy Kelly, I know that progress has been made in respect of the swimming pool in Longford, which is fantastic. I am aware that a similar facility is being planned for Loughrea in County Galway. Steps are being taken to develop new pools throughout the country. However, those pools will not be owned by clubs per se. When a new pool was built in Athlone a couple of years ago, responsibility for running it was taken from the local council. It is now being run by a private enterprise. The costs incurred by the clubs using such pools are very high. Swim Ireland has started to compile an inventory of details about swimming pools and the costs associated with using them, based on information received from all the clubs, so that it can ascertain whether it can do anything to alleviate such costs, which are quite expensive at present. I will ask my colleague, Ms Sarah Keane, to speak about the use of the National Aquatic Centre by Swim Ireland.
Ms Keane
The National Aquatic Centre, built in 2003, is a premier facility. As somebody who has been involved in swimming, I think it is fantastic. Swim Ireland would like to emphasise that it is delighted that certain matters pertaining to the facility seem to have been resolved. Swim Ireland has a certain level of access to the pool free of charge, to assist it in developing the sport, particularly at the elite end of the scale. While the pool was designed and built in a manner that allows everybody to access it, it is also a pool that our elite swimmers should be accessing. Swim Ireland appreciates the funding the Government and taxpayers invested in the National Aquatic Centre.
I welcome the delegation from Swim Ireland and wish the organisation well. I hope the criminal activities of the 1990s will not be repeated. It is sad that such a small number of people were able to cause such distress, annoyance and upset. I am a former member of the Annalee swimming club in Longford. Although I was never a champion, I was able to stay afloat.
Deputy Kelly is used to the deep end.
I received more lessons in survival from Deputy Deenihan than in my entire life in Longford. Those involved in the Annalee club are decent, respectable volunteers and community activists who give time for the betterment of others.
I am pleased the Chairman referred to the new 25-metre, six lane pool in Longford. Following considerable public consultation, we opted to build a public swimming pool because it was what people wanted. I thank Deputy Deenihan's friend, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy O'Donoghue, the best Minister with responsibility for sport in the history of the State, for funding the facility.
We can thank him for spending Fine Gael's national lottery money.
We will call it the Peter Kelly pool.
If Senator Feighan makes a formal proposal to that effect, I will second it. I thank the Fine Gael Party if it left national lottery money unspent when it left office. The Government believes in spending national lottery money for the benefit of people.
If Swim Ireland were to encounter difficulties such as those it faced in the 1990s, would its insurance policy cover the cost of any claims to arise? I hope no claims will occur, given the organisation's efficient management and watchful eyes. If, however, a lapse were to occur, would its insurance policy cover claims? What is the position regarding the 10% of Swim Ireland's funding allocated for insurance purposes? Can it be clawed back or is it lost to the organisation?
Ms Keane
The figure is slightly higher than 10%, although it is lower this year than in previous years. This is a difficult subject for everyone. There are two strands to our child welfare and protection guidelines. The first relates to the welfare of children and aims to ensure that children are positioned to enjoy sport, the environment is safe and secure and they participate in sport which is appropriate to their age and stage of development. The second strand relates to child protection and aims to ensure that a child who wishes to raise a matter has a forum within which to do so and in which it will be heard. We are trying to enable children who wish to raise matters, whether connected or unconnected to Swim Ireland, to do so by building positive relationships in the organisation and clubs. One of the main aspects of child protection is ensuring that people are aware that they have a forum in which to raise concerns and are listened to because we do not know what the future holds. We can only legislate on criminality to a certain degree. This is an important part of our structure.
Swim Ireland is aware of the importance of insurance and changed its insurance company this year. We have examined this issue and discussed it with our insurance company. This also relates to ensuring that, as an organisation, we have the proper structures, policies and procedures in place and accept the responsibility to try to make our sport as safe and secure as possible for children.
Ms Keane indicated that the approximate annual cost of legal fees is more than 10% of Swim Ireland's annual budget and that 15 cases are outstanding. While I accept this is a difficult area, I ask her to answer my question within the constraints imposed on her by the ongoing cases. If Swim Ireland were required to pay damages as a result of any of these 15 actions, would the awards be covered by an insurance policy or met solely from the organisation's resources?
Ms Keane
I am not in position to answer the question because a case taken by Swim Ireland against its insurance company is ongoing.
I welcome the delegation and thank it for an informative, frank and sensible presentation. The witnesses have had to deal with a murky and difficult past. The Irish Amateur Swimming Association is more than 100 years old. It is unfortunate that the cases to which members referred occurred. I thank Swim Ireland for the manner in which it dealt with these cases and embraced the Murphy report. This is a difficult issue, particularly for volunteers working with Swim Ireland, the Irish Amateur Swimming Association and other sports associations. Nobody expects to have to wade through a 70-page document on child protection and welfare policies or codes of ethics and good practice. It is a major responsibility on volunteers to have to deal with these matters, particularly as no such requirements were in place ten years ago.
The Health Service Executive has vast experience and funding. Is the delegation satisfied with the assistance it receives from the HSE? Did the HSE lead the way, so to speak, or were the professionals led by Swim Ireland? What kind of assistance is provided? Is Swim Ireland concerned that certain clubs are not adhering sufficiently to the welfare policy statement? It is not necessary to mention the names of specific clubs. What is the nature of Swim Ireland's co-operation with the Garda?
I grew up in an area with no swimming pool and we had to travel 27 miles to the nearest pool. Over the years, new leisure centres have been rolled out, which is a welcome development. In assessing applications for new swimming pools the Department applies the criterion that the catchment area must contain a certain number of people. I accept a sufficient number of people are required to make a pool viable. However, the nearest pool to Ballaghaderreen in west Roscommon is 27 miles away.
There is still a sticking point in the Department in that it needs a catchment area with a sufficient population. This is a little disingenuous and discriminates against very rural areas that do not have a dense population or economies of scale. Have the representatives been asked for their views on this aspect? It is somewhat like the case of the chicken and the egg.
Many schools now have to hire buses to transport children to the nearest swimming pool and these can be expensive. I am sure the representatives would agree there should be more funding to support them. Many schools must decide between swimming and another activity owing to the cost. Swimming is disappearing from the agenda because of the logistics of hiring buses, although it is the most important area of physical education.
There is an ever-increasing problem whereby Irish people are drowning at holiday destinations abroad. Some of the drownings may be alcohol-related but some may be due to the fact that we do not teach people swimming skills of the standard that obtain abroad. Will the delegates advise us on how best this can be addressed? Although swimming classes are held throughout the country, we do not seem to be to the fore in this regard. Perhaps other factors are involved.
I thank the delegates. The committee would welcome suggestions on how it can help them.
Ms Keane
We have put in place a policy to address the concerns that arise. Much of our work, which is related to what Ms Hills does on the ground, involves ensuring that people understand the policies and how to implement them. We communicate widely to promote awareness and this is why we have made the Swim Ireland document colourful and user-friendly.
This year, our organisation is conducting random checks on its clubs. Ms Hills or another member of the organisation could arrive at a club's pool-side at 6 a.m. She would obviously introduce herself because not doing so would be inappropriate, but the club would not necessarily be told she is arriving. This ensures that the policies are being implemented on the ground and not being shelved. One of the regulations we are trying to implement is that there must be a parent on the bank supervising the coaches. We are also trying to support the teachers and coaches in the clubs because the large policy documents can be very intimidating.
Everyone wants the sport to be safe and secure and to achieve this we need to support staff on the ground. We need resources to do so and we hope to have, as part of our new strategy, a development officer on the ground meeting the clubs and developing relationships with local pool authorities so that our programmes can be rolled out. This is a very important part of what we are doing at present.
On co-operation with the Garda and the HSE, a very helpful part of the HSE's policy is that if one is unsure about a matter, one can consult its staff informally. Our clubs have children's officers and designated persons. The role of the former is to ensure the welfare of the children and act as a voice for them. These officers are independent of the committee but can attend meetings and raise certain issues about which they have been approached. They could suggest that a captain attend a meeting to talk about how the swimmers are getting on.
The role of the designated person is to report to the Garda or HSE concerns raised with them. If the designated person is unsure what approach to take, he or she can consult the authorities informally. This is a very positive part of the legislation because it gives people confidence and means they can receive advice and do not have to be afraid of doing the wrong thing. The HSE is undergoing major transition but we found the information and advisory office, which is relatively new, very helpful.
Ms Hills
The four-hour course on child protection in sport, which was developed by the Irish Sports Council, is to be followed up with children's officer training, again developed by the council. The latter course takes six hours. Very often this training is delivered around the country not only to swimming clubs, but to other sports clubs. It is delivered by the information and advice officers. I am building up a good relationship with all the relevant people throughout the country who are acting as a resource for us. As we develop protocols, we can obtain information from them on how best to deal with issues associated with changing rooms, for example. This is a major issue in swimming because it is one of the few sports in which people get completely undressed. This can create difficulties within clubs. The information and advice officers can help in this regard, as can the Irish Sports Council. The officers often co-facilitate training with the Irish Sports Council tutors.
On implementation, clubs approach us if they have a problem, in which case the children's officers assume their responsibilities. Very often a discussion with a children's officer will reveal an issue a club is not dealing with in terms of implementing the programme guidelines. I can visit such clubs and take them through the process of implementation step by step, in adherence to the model of best practice that suits it. The children's officers are very important in this regard and are aware of every measure in our guidelines. I am available to support them in implementing them in the clubs.
Ms Keane
Swim Ireland needs to drive the campaign to promote swimming in schools and improve swimming skills. We hope to approach the Government at a later date when our programme is ready to present. It needs to be done in a structured fashion because it needs to be sustainable. Due to our history, we have been reluctant to put our heads above the parapet and we have not had the confidence. Swim Ireland therefore had to try to take the right steps within its own organisation first and look to our past. However, it now has ideas and hopes the Government will be responsive to them.
Mr. Farrell
Some 70% of our funding is from the Government and approximately 30% is from our own resources. The latter comprises 16% to 20% from affiliation fees, 11% from the education programme and 5% from competitions. As with all organisations, Swim Ireland needs more resources to make progress. We are present as representatives of a sports body and not to criticise anybody. Everybody is striving to do the right thing. We thank the Government for what we are getting but we need more. When we next appear before the committee, we hope to raise this aspect.
The Vice Chairman is a good friend of the Minister of Finance.
That is an appropriate note on which to conclude. I thank Swim Ireland for its presentation. We have had an extremely useful dialogue.
On behalf of committee members, all of whom are sportspeople of one hue or another, I sympathise not only with the victims involved in this controversy in the 1990s but also with the organisation and the volunteers who were involved in the Irish Amateur Swimming Association and, particularly, Swim Ireland. All sportspeople will applaud the efforts the group has made and the loyalty it has shown to the sport. We congratulate Swim Ireland for this. This presentation shows that huge strides have been made. We wish the group well for the future and offer it our support.
Deputy Wall made a point about the view commercial entities took; it is a pity they are not represented today. I hope those members of the media who are will send the message that while this may not be a new beginning, it is a move in the right direction for Swim Ireland. We hope commercial support will follow, with increased Government support. What exactly can the committee do for Swim Ireland?
Mr. Farrell
I thank committee members for their input. It is much appreciated and we feel we have the committee's support. We would like it to endorse the work Swim Ireland has done on the Murphy report and our request that we use Children First and the Irish Sports Council's code of ethics as our benchmark for best practice in child welfare. We also ask for support for our organisation and those working so hard on the ground to make the sport safe and provide access to it for as many young people as possible. We ask the committee to support us in the development of all areas to ensure participation and performance.
Swim Ireland has our endorsement. It is not just a token gesture; the committee will be proactive.
I suggest we send a message to this effect to the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism.
We will also send one to the Department of Health and Children.
Mr. Farrell
On behalf of Swim Ireland, my colleagues, the board, all the volunteers involved and, particularly, the children concerned, I thank the committee for its time.
The joint committee adjourned at 5.35 p.m. until 1 p.m. on Wednesday, 29 November 2006.