Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh gach duine atá anseo thar ceann Chomhairle Spóirt na hÉireann, an príomh-fheidhmeannach, Mr. John Treacy, agus na daoine atá leis, Mr. Finbarr Kirwan, Mr. Paul McDermott agus Mr. Gary Keegan. I apologise to the representatives of the Irish Sports Council for the delay. There was an important item of business that had to be dealt with before the Dáil meets tomorrow. I understand that before my time the Irish Sports Council met the joint committee to express its hopes and expectations prior to the Beijing Olympic Games and that a commitment was made to come back and give a report following the games. I invite its chief executive, Mr. Treacy, to make his statement.
Beijing Review: Discussion with Irish Sports Council.
Mr. John Treacy
On behalf of the Irish Sports Council, I thank the joint committee for inviting us. We were provided with the opportunity to meet it in advance of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympics Games in 2008. We were delighted to have the opportunity to brief it on the athletes' preparations and prospects for the games. We also provided information on the structures and systems in place and investments made to support them. We reported that the athletes were on track to meet the targets set in the Athens review in 2005. We undertook a rigorous examination with the governing bodies of sport of what could realistically be achieved in Beijing. Our target was to have six to nine finalists. That target was met and exceeded with the Irish team enjoying significant success in Beijing.
I am accompanied by Mr. Finbarr Kirwan, programme manager in the high performance unit of the Irish Sports Council. He has been responsible for delivering the elite sports programme for the past six years and is the driving force behind the programmes we will discuss today.
I am also joined by Gary Keegan, technical director of the Institute of Sport. I am sure you are aware of Gary's outstanding contribution to Irish sport as performance manager of Irish boxing. We are delighted that he has joined the institute. Gary is part of a team of experts at the institute who are providing services to athletes and coaches, augmenting the existing work of the council with new science, medical, technical and lifestyle services. The institute was established in August 2006, which was too late in the Olympic cycle for it to be expected to make an impact in Beijing. Despite this, the institute definitely had a profound impact on the performance of many of our athletes and we are gratified that the athletes have publicly acknowledged this input. I am also joined by Paul McDermott, our public relations officer in the council.
At the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Ireland won three medals and had nine finalists across all sports. Obviously the boxing squad provided the main highlights, producing a series of remarkable performances that won medals and delighted the nations. Kenneth Egan, Darren Sutherland and Paddy Barnes demonstrated their talent to the world and won elusive medals. It is an amazing statistic that all five boxers were beaten by opposition who went on to win gold medals. It should be noted that since Beijing, boxing has won medals at the European Championships, the Women's World Championships and the World Youth Championships. A number of young boxers are emerging through the system with realistic expectations of international success. In Beijing in the canoeing slalom, Eoin Rheinisch delivered the performance of his life and was beaten by a whisker into fourth place. Our race walkers, Olive Loughnane and Robbie Heffernan, excelled, finishing seventh and eighth in their 20k events. Paul Hession put Irish sprinting on the map, just losing out on a place in the final. Róisín McGettigan and Alistair Cragg reached their track finals. All this was achieved despite major injuries to two of our main athletes who are believed to have the potential to make finals. The eventing team finished eighth and our two rowing crews finished tenth. Our swimmers broke national records. Ger Owens and Phil Lawton won two races at the Olympic sailing regatta at Qingdao. We saw breakthoughs in triathlon, badminton, fencing and track cycling. The target for those sports was qualification for the Olympic Games. That was achieved and the performance was a bonus.
This was an Irish team marked by a series of significant performances, a team that was well prepared and delivered across all the disciplines. They confronted the naysayers and their critics. Everybody involved should be proud of what was achieved.
Ireland excelled at the Paralympic Games also, with 22 finalists, 24 personal bests and five world records. The team won five medals — three gold, one silver and one bronze. Overall it was a fantastic achievement, well merited on the basis of talent, planning, hard work and dedication. The highlights were the medal performance of Newtown's Jason Smyth, Michael McKillop, Darragh McDonald and the re-emergence of Gabriel Shelly in boccia. Overall this was a very significant body of achievement and for Ireland it represents major progress in recent years which must be considered a success. Anyone who is closely involved in these sports will have noted a general improvement in standard since Sydney 2000. There, we had three top eight finishes, with Sonia O'Sullivan reaching two finals.
The notable improvement at the Olympic and Paralympic Games were not in isolation. Let us look at Irish sport since Beijing. The Irish team won the Grand Slam in Cardiff last month, for the second time in history and the first time in 61 years. The Irish Sports Council has invested €25 million in Irish rugby since 2001. That investment develops the playing base and expands the game. We are proud of our involvement with the IRFU and enjoy an excellent working relationship with them.
Irish golf is also experiencing a run of unprecedented success. Michael Hoey, who won the Portugese Open last Sunday, is one of the golfers the Irish Sports Council has supported in recent years through our Team Ireland Golf Trust. This programme aims to help aspiring golf professionals break through to the main tour. Other European tour winners include Peter Lawrie and Damian McGrane, who are also supported under the trust. We have invested €230,000 in the trust this year, making a total of €2.2 million since the year 2000. Tomorrow an extraordinary Irishman, Padraig Harrington, aims to win his third major in a row when he tees off at the US Masters. He will be joined by the most exciting talent in the world, Rory McIlroy. They both emerged through the Irish amateur structure, the Golfing Union of Ireland, supported by the Irish Sports Council. The Irish team are currently European champions in amateur golf, producing yet more talent for the amateur and professionals games.
The Irish cricket team is in South Africa this week competing in the ICC trophy, the qualification event for the next Cricket World Cup in Asia in 2011. The team is excelling in the tournament and has already qualified for the super eight stage and is on target to reach the 2011 World Cup. Cricket Ireland aims to repeat its heroics of 2007 when it qualified for the final super eight section of the elite tournament of world cricket. We strongly supported their efforts in 2007 and are supporting them with additional high performance funding in 2009.
Other recent highlights include podium finishes for David O'Loughlin at the Track Cycling World Cup events in Beijing and Copenhagen. Dublin swimmer Barry Murphy reached the final in the European short course championships in Croatia. In September Ireland retained its place in the global elite of showjumping when finishing fifth overall in the Samsung Super League. The Irish Sailing Academy is producing talented young sailors, including the junior world champion in the Laser 4.7 class, Philip Dorgan of County Wexford who won the event in Croatia in November.
The Irish track and field team enjoyed great success at the European Indoor Championships in Turin, with Mary Cullen and Derval O'Rourke winning two medals. A new generation of talented athletes is emerging, for example the likes of Kelly Proper and Martin Fagan who recently broke longstanding Irish records. November was also a great month in amateur boxing. John Joe Joyce, Eamon O'Kane and Ross Hickey won medals at the European Senior Boxing Championships in Liverpool. Katie Taylor retained her world championship in China, Ray Moylett from County Mayo won a gold at the World Youth Championships in Mexico, leading the Irish team to a best ever four medals.
World champions, world records, European medals, the Grand Slam, major championships, Irish records, Paralympic medals, Olympic medals were all achieved in a period of eight months. The Irish Sports Council supports all these sports and is proud to do so. Our collective aim is sustainable, repeatable success at international level. It is obviously being achieved in certain Irish sports such as the examples cited, directly within our remit. Success in Irish sport is no longer a random event. We do not rely on one or two exceptional sports people to provide some success at international level. Consistent achievement arises from good systems, solid planning and sustained investment. Measureable and deliverable targets are set and publicly communicated. Ultimately these targets validate and justify the investment of public money in elite sport.
We are confident that the Beijing review will serve Irish sport well and it is the roadmap for London 2012. For London we will have to set targets and state them publicly. The Athens review targets were for the long term and it was a great result to exceed them first time out. The target of nine finalists converting into three medals will be the baseline for the whole team. Some examples of targets in sport are that Swim Ireland has set six A standards as their Olympic target; Triathlon Ireland want three competitors at the Olympic Games; Cycling Ireland wants to qualify a track cycling pursuit team and Irish hockey aims to qualify either the men's or the women's team. These are high standards that we hope to achieve.
In October 2008 the Irish Sports Council established a steering group to direct its quadrennial high performance review, known as the Beijing review. The group was chaired by Judge Rory MacCabe, S.C., and comprised Pat O'Neill, former chairman of the Irish Sports Council, and Gary Owens, former chair of AAI. It was assisted by the independent consultant, Dr. Neil Tunnicliff of Wharton Consultants. In the course of the review, Dr. Tunnicliff interviewed representative of all Olympic and Paralympic sports and relevant agencies. Dr. Tunnicliff received responses to a questionnaire from 28 of the 55 Olympic athletes and 72 of the 79 Paralympic athletes. The exception was the Olympic Council of Ireland which declined an invitation to participate and went to complete a separate review of the games. Clearly it would have been much better had the OCI collaborated with us, as it had done with previous reviews. Since 2001 we have worked with the OCI on the basis of the Sydney review, which is based on co-operation and mutual respect. That review highlighted the obligations of the OCI under the Olympic charter to maintain harmonious and co-operative relationships with appropriate Government bodies. We remain open to working with the OCI, as we did right up to Beijing through the Olympic performance committee. Three medals in Beijing was the third-best performance in Irish history, bettered only in 1956 and 1996. The target set in 2004 was six to nine finalists, from which two to three medals might be won. In fact we had nine finalists and two other top-ten finishes with three medals. For context in the half century since 1960, at 12 games, Ireland won only 11 Olympic medals in total. Nine individual athletes have been medal-winners.
For the Paralympic Games the target set in 2004 was 12 to 15 finalists. Ireland achieved 22 qualifiers for finals, or equivalent. There were five world records and 24 personal bests. The three gold, one silver and one bronze medals were won in three sports; athletics, boccia and swimming. Their targets were achieved and exceeded.
The key finding of the Beijing review was that Ireland demonstrated an improvement on performances in 2004 and all of the outcome targets set by the Athens review were fulfilled. According to the review this progress is attributable to the effects of increases in Government funding.
The strongest output of the Beijing cycle has been the demonstration of what good looks like within the boxing and Paralympic programmes. Crucially the review found that those sports and athletes which were stable in their build up to the games, and which were able to treat and manage the event as a sport-specific championship, fared well in Beijing. This is a vital outcome and we must address this issue if we are to find further success in London.
The Beijing review also identified areas of weakness and possible improvement. For example some performances were marked by psychological deficit in Beijing. Previously the weakness was in physical preparation. We have managed to close that gap and, while in certain cases it may be an issue, in general terms Ireland no longer lags behind in terms of physical conditioning. However we recognise that we have work to do in sports psychology and programmes will be put in place by the institute in coming weeks and months.
One notable comment from the review is that money is no longer a barrier to achieving success for Irish athletes. We have closed the gap in terms of financial investment in elite sport. There is need to maintain and enhance the investment notwithstanding the current financial climate. It would be a shame if the progress of recent years had to be unwound due to a return to the bad old days of no funding. It is important to stay in business, keep working and retain the expertise in sport. Otherwise we will be left behind again and the gap with the rest of the world will return.
The planning and implementation process for London is advanced. A number of critical appointments have been made in recent weeks. New performance directors have been appointed in rowing, swimming and cycling, and a new national men's coach in hockey.
We are accelerating the activities of the Institute of Sport which is becoming the technical arm of the Irish Sports Council. The institute will add to the good work of recent years by providing medical, science, technical and lifestyle supports to athletes. I am delighted to report that the institute, based at Abbotstown, is getting on with its vital business and making a real difference to Irish sport. I thank Mr. Gary Keegan for the work he is doing.
Finbarr Kirwan, Gary Keegan and their colleagues have good working relationships with all the performance directors, the key athletes and their support staff. We feel that our direct and collegial approach has served us all very well. We use Ireland's small size to our advantage by responding directly to the needs of our athletes. This is of benefit to the institute which is well placed to build on these relationships.
I am happy to report that we enjoy an excellent working relationship with Sport Northern Ireland and the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland. We have an open communication with them and collaborate to ensure that athletes who qualify for support in both systems get the best assistance available without duplicating resources. We will work continually to ensure close alignment between the two systems for the best results for all Irish athletes.
The Irish Sports Council will invest €7.3 million in high-performance sport in 2009. The international carding scheme provides more than €2.2 million in direct funding to athletes across the sports spectrum. At one time athletes relied on this scheme to provide for all of their needs. Now, happily with increased investment in sport, it is used to allow sportspeople support the lifestyle required as a full-time international athlete.
Some €5.12 million is provided to sports to implement performance plans. This planning system has been a major and successful advance on past practice. It empowers professional performance directors in each sport to drive a plan, from junior to world class, in their sports.
We have met representatives of all the sports and set out our plans for 2009 and beyond. The focus is now on implementing the agreed plans and the practical business of supporting the athletes and coaches. Our key allies and supporters in the investment strategy are the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy Cullen, and the senior officials at the Department. Simply, we would not be able to do our work without their support. I acknowledge their support.
The Irish Sports Council recognises that good governance within governing bodies is an essential prerequisite to sustained long-term success at elite level. It is essential that the governing bodies are well run and that they can operate effectively and independently. Our role is to work in collaboration, addressing the areas beyond the scope of small agencies. We have a small team at the council who work with the governing bodies and a huge amount of their work is taken up with issues which fall under the heading of governance. A special resource is being developed which we anticipate will be of major benefit. This corporate governance toolkit will be rolled out this year.
When we met in 2008, we were accompanied by my colleague, Dr. Una May, the manager of the anti-doping unit. We are hosting a major international conference on anti-doping measures in April with delegates from 37 countries attending. The major challenge for this year is the full roll-out of the new Irish rules which were developed and published in line with the new WADA rules. This significant body of work is proceeding very smoothly. We have come to expect a very high standard from Dr. May and her team and are very proud of their contribution to Irish sport.
The Irish Sports Council has two key strategic objectives — high performance and participation. Broadly, for every €1 we invest in elite sport we invest €3 in participation initiatives. Much excellent work is being done in the area of participation and we would welcome the opportunity to brief the committee in more detail on that aspect of our work at some future date. In the meantime I refer the committee to the Irish Sports Monitor, our new research publication that provides detailed information on participation rates and trends in Ireland. One statistic of note is that 24% of the adult population are highly active, 28% are fairly active, 29% are just active and 18.% are sedentary. Internationally that places Ireland around mid-table with some scope to catch up with the world’s best performers.
The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism recently completed the value for money and policy review of the Irish Sports Council. I am happy to report that it is a strong endorsement of our work and performance in recent years. It commends progress in high performance, as well as our work on anti-doping measures, the research programme, and the impact of local sports partnerships on participation. It commends the council for its work in creating a safer environment for children in sport. It concludes that the current structures in sport provide the most effective way of implementing Irish sports policy at this time.
To finish, I want to take members back to January 2008. There were 28 athletes qualified for the Beijing Olympic Games and there was public comment that Ireland would seriously underperform at the games. The Irish Sports Council was undeterred and stood squarely with the athletes and the governing bodies of sport. We supported them right up to the games. We never lost confidence in our sports or our athletes. They rewarded our faith with qualification, with records, top eight finishes and medals. I thank them for this and giving the country a lift. The athletes concerned are Kenneth Egan, Darren Sutherland, Paddy Barnes, Jason Smyth, Michael McKillop, Darragh McDonald and Gabriel Shelly. They did the country proud.
I thank the chief executive of the Irish Sports Council. Members now have an opportunity to make contributions and ask questions.
I thank Mr. John Treacy, Mr. Finbarr Kirwan, Mr. Paul McDermott and Mr. Gary Keegan for attending. I congratulate them on their involvement, whether in funding or, in the case of Mr. Keegan, a hands on capacity with the boxers. At a time of much gloom and doom in the country, we are experiencing exciting times in sport. Mr. Treacy rightly referred to our grand slam victory in recent weeks in a team sport. He mentioned the importance of planning, setting targets and expertise, all of which came together in the final moments with the grand slam victory. These are the positive elements.
I wish to ask questions about the Beijing review. Usually there is one review after the Olympic Games; members of the public want to know why there have been two on this occasion. This sends out two signals; that there has been a waste of money and that each review criticised the other body. I am referring to the Irish Sports Council and the Olympic Council of Ireland.
The great success we have had was mentioned in the report. It is the nature of competitors in sport that they wish to raise the bar. If any areas need to be ironed out, I suggest the body language of having two reports criticising each other sends out a bad signal. There is potential for improvement in this regard. There seems to have been a great deal of duplication of the roles of the bodies; the Olympic Council of Ireland seems to take over with a full team of psychologists, physiotherapists and such back-up staff when the team enters the Olympic village. However, this is the first occasion on which the team meets these people. I am involved in team sport and could not imagine training a team to reach an all-Ireland final only to have a new back room team introduced at that stage. This is what seems to happen to our Olympic athletes. Is it the case that the first time the athletes meet psychologists and physiotherapists from the Olympic Council of Ireland is in the Olympic village? I understand that the athletes get support from their sports' governing bodies, which, in turn, are supported by the Irish Sports Council, during preparation, qualification and so on. Does this mean a full back room team is left unemployed at the Olympic village? How are the roles defined?
Some people do not understand the difference between the Irish Sports Council and the Institute of Sport; is one a policy group and does the other take a hands-on approach? The relationship between the Irish Sports Council and the governing bodies was mentioned and it has become public knowledge in recent weeks that core funding for Athletics Ireland has been withheld. Why has this happened and what is the cause of the dispute? This matter sends out a negative signal. Is it likely to be resolved soon and will Athletics Ireland get its core funding?
Going back to the Olympic Games, people on the street can see that some countries target certain sports to win medals. Does the Irish Sports Council have a policy on where to focus attention for medals in the Olympic Games in 2012? They will almost be on our home patch; there will be neither climatic nor travel-related difficulties and we will have a huge opportunity. If we could overcome some of the obstacles I mentioned we could raise the bar further.
The Irish Sports Council provides funds to the Olympic Council of Ireland, OCI, but it also has other funding. Is the Irish Sports Council aware of how much the OCI receives in other funding or from where it comes?
I now call on Deputy Upton. I bring it to the attention of the committee and the delegation that the Opposition spokesperson, Deputy Olivia Mitchell, is in the Dáil waiting to contribute on the budget, but may be back later.
I welcome Mr. John Treacy and his colleagues and thank them for their presentation. Arising from the Beijing reports, we asked that the Irish Sports Council and the Olympic Council of Ireland come before the committee. If I did not know the truth, I might have thought, after reading both reports, that I was reading about two different events. Each report was produced by a highly regarded consultant, but one is highly critical and the other is moderately positive. The Olympic Council of Ireland report is highly critical, while the report of the Irish Sports Council is middle of the road and quite positive on the outcome.
If somebody outside of sport or with just a passing interest in it were to read these reports, he or she would have to ask what was going on between the Irish Sports Council and the Olympic Council of Ireland. Deputy O'Mahony referred to the issue, but I would like to know why heads are not being banged together to find a solution. I am aware some funding goes from the sports council to the Olympic Council of Ireland, but that it also receives a substantial amount of private funding, as is apparent from its website. One way or the other, public or taxpayers' money goes to each organisation, whether directly or indirectly, and we have a responsibility to find out what is going on.
It appears to me a waste of money that two bodies who each have, to a certain extent, a similar role and responsibilities, have each presented reports that do not add up or make sense. I understand the report commissioned by the Irish Sports Council cost in the region of €30,000 — a substantial amount. With regard to the outcomes, one of the points that struck me in the report was that 55 athletes were at the Olympic Games, but only 28 of that 55 responded — just half of the number of participants. I understand these athletes were provided with substantial funding over a four-year period and perhaps for longer. Why did they not or could they not respond to the council's questionnaire or provide feedback on the Olympic Games? Taxpayers have a right to know how the money was spent, the value got from it and the outcome for the athletes. Why, therefore, were responses not received from all athletes and why were they not pursued for a report?
The sports council stated in its report that it wanted to move towards more focused sports. Will the delegates elaborate on that and explain what exactly they mean by more focused sports? What is the current status of the Irish Institute of Sport and how does it relate, in terms of responsibilities, to the Irish Sports Council? What is the relationship between the two organisations? We need a system that provides that our sporting organisations and bodies have a common purpose. That is what we hope to have. Such bodies, including the sports council, should combine their efforts and work together for a positive outcome. The comment has been made in The Irish Times that if finger pointing ever became an Olympic sport, Ireland would be a gold medal contender. That may be just a witty remark, but it may well be the case that we would be in the gold medal league and could have a host of medals to our credit. That is not, however, the way things should be. The finger pointing must stop now. Everyone involved has a responsibility to see how this can be achieved. The Irish Sports Council should take the lead in ensuring there is this form of co-operation.
The issue concerning Athletics Ireland has been very much in the public arena and damaging. One sport in which we hope to achieve is athletics in which historically Ireland has had an excellent track record with Ronnie Delaney, John Treacy and many others. However, the public reports on what has been going on are damaging to everyone involved. Whatever the Irish Sport Council's role in this, why has the issue not yet been resolved? Athletics Ireland has already spent €100,000 in legal fees, a complete waste of public money. I have received much documentation on the matter which makes for disturbing reading. It is bad for athletics. None of us wants to get involved in a spat within or between organisations. However, the larger picture in this case relates to the profile of Irish sport and the future of athletics. The issue must be resolved. If the documentation reflects the time and energy which have gone into this matter, they would be better focused on and directed at promoting the sport. If the association is only receiving funding on a monthly basis, it must be difficult for it to perform. The committee argues that multi-annual funding is important for the arts and sport. What is the reason for the monthly allocation? Athletics Ireland needs to be allowed to get on with the business of promoting athletics and supporting good sport.
I too welcome the representatives of the Irish Sports Council. I am disappointed two reviews of performances at the Beijing Olympic Games are being carried out in tandem. I note that the council's report highlights the obligation of the Olympic Council of Ireland, under the Olympic charter, to maintain harmonious and co-operative relations with appropriate governing bodies. It is regrettable that such a small island, with such excellent involvement at amateur and professional levels, has this problem with relationships between the Irish Sports Council and the Olympic Council of Ireland. Prior to the Beijing Olympic Games, I asked how much funding the Olympic Council of Ireland had received when its president, Mr. Pat Hickey, attended the committee only to be informed that it was top secret. I want to know how much funding the council receives and from where it comes.
I do not want to put a blot on our wonderful achievements at the Beijing Olympic Games, but I must ask what is happening with our show jumping team. At two successive games our horses have embarrassed us owing to the detection of performance enhancing or prohibited health substances. What will be done to guard against this happening in the future, particularly at the London Olympic Games? We must ensure we will not have more embarrassing situations with medals being presented and then stripped or horses not being allowed to compete. We have already discussed the issue of funding for the horse and greyhound industries. We are, or course, proud of many people in show jumping. However, show jumping should clean up its act. I would like to know what is going on with the horses that have been identified as having substances which clearly should not be there.
The Beijing review also identified areas of weakness and possible improvement. It was mentioned that some performers were marked by psychological deficit in Beijing. Does that mean our athletes were overwhelmed by what was out there? Was it the climate? Was it lack of preparation? Having played sport at a high level I know one can just have a bad day on the track or in the swimming pool. However, I would like an example of what is meant by a "psychological deficit".
On the whole I want to commend the work of the Irish Sports Council. I am proud of what it does. I am delighted too that the sports in which I was highly involved for a lot of my sporting days, particularly hockey, are coming on so well. Let us wish all involved in sporting activities well coming up to the Olympics, and even those who do not make it to the Olympics. The medal is not the final thing. It is taking part in sport that matters. As we become heavier and more obese as a country and fewer children take part in activities, we have to salute everybody who goes out on a Saturday in a voluntary capacity to support their children or to referee a match or to umpire a game. That is part of what we should be doing well into the future.
We are under time pressure so we will hear contributions and then wind up with the responses.
I welcome the delegation and thank the chief executive of the Irish Sports Council for the excellent review and report before us. However, as somebody who is involved in sport, I am confused and perplexed and would like answers because the Genesis report by the Olympic Council of Ireland paints one picture while the Irish Sports Council's report paints another picture. I cannot make an evaluation, so which is right? If we are talking about building synergies, about building relationships, and Deputy John O'Mahony referred a few minutes ago to the all-Ireland final, then we are sending the wrong message to our athletes, to our sponsors and to the people involved in sport.
I disagree with Deputy White in that I believe it is medals that drive sport in the context of high performance sport at an international level. It is Ireland winning the Grand Slam that will get young people playing rugby. It is Cork winning the all-Ireland that will get Cork players playing hurling and football. It is results that drives people's participation in sport. While I accept Deputy White's point regarding Saturday morning coaching as helping to initiate young people into sport, it is results that drive sport and fuel the new generation.
Why is there a lack of relationship between the two reports? Which do we believe? The Olympic Council of Ireland cites the UK example in terms of the relationship between the different bodies there from Atlanta to Beijing where there was a huge leap forward in the number of medals won. I congratulate and pay tribute to all our athletes, our boxers and other sports people because they lift public morale and give us a great sense of pride in being Irish and a sense of pride in their achievements.
The Genesis report has a list of criticisms. One of them is that Ireland has under-performed consistently in the past six Olympic Games compared with eight nations of similar population, which it lists. Is that correct? We have always done well in boxing but are we accentuating the right approach, the right focus in terms of track and field events and other sports, given our results? I question the amount of investment we are putting into sports as we do not seem to be getting the yield from the money that is put in. I say that while accepting there may be injuries and other issues arising before the Olympic Games.
Like Deputy White, I want to know what has gone wrong in the case of show jumping. One can make allowances if something happens at one Olympic Games but not if it happens at two in a row. I am no expert — I am an ordinary punter who watches events on television and reads the newspapers — but it sends the wrong message if an Irish horse is found to have tested positive for an illegal substance. I am not apportioning blame to anybody, but how can this happen if we have anti-doping regulations?
As regards the Olympic Games in London 2012, how are we doing in terms of the building blocks and seeking to have athletes train and set up bases here? I would like to see co-operation between the Olympic Council of Ireland and the Irish Sports Council. If I have got it wrong, that is fine, but there does seem to be huge tension, a huge chasm between both organisations which cannot be good for Irish sport. As Deputy O'Mahony said, perhaps we should have one organisation driving sport and the athletes.
I thank the Irish Sports Council for its immense work. We owe it a debt of gratitude on behalf of ordinary sports people because it has brought beneficial change, but there are issues that must be addressed also.
I welcome Mr. Treacy and his colleagues and congratulate them on their work and successes, limited though they might be,
I wish to refer to the doping issue. When Dr. Una May of the Irish Sports Council attended, we raised the issue of the embarrassment experienced previously and were assured it would not happen again. Senator Buttimer and Deputy White referred in our earlier debate on the horse and dog racing industries to the sense of embarrassment felt at reading about it in the newspapers when we as Irish people always pride ourselves on our sense of fair play and never cheating. When Mr. Treacy won his medal, he won it on sheer endeavour and commitment to sport. He did not need performance enhancers or anything else. This is an issue that needs to be addressed. I do not suggest anybody in this room is to blame. However, somewhere within the Irish Sports Council there is slippage. We should ensure there will not be further embarrassment for the country in London in 2012 because it reflects on us as a nation and one of our major industries.
As other speakers have pointed out, there is an apparent conflict between the Olympic Council of Ireland and the Irish Sports Council. That is a pity because Ireland is a small nation with a small number of athletes who have a chance of doing well and even achieving medals. On the apparent lack of co-operation between the two bodies, I understand Sonia O'Sullivan is now on the board of the OCI. With no disrespect to Mr. Treacy, I would regard her as Ireland's greatest athlete in terms of the medals she has won and her achievements on the world stage. She is an asset and it would be a shame if, for whatever reason, Irish athletes could not benefit from the experience she brings to bear. It would be a shame not to have her fully participating. Whatever we need to do should be done. I asked a direct question of Mr. Treacy. Is there a conflict, if so why, and what can we do to rectify it?
Anyone who participates in international sport is above average. We send these sports people to competitions because we think they have a chance. I used to believe that participating was important. Given how international sport has developed, I now believe there is little point in spending a great deal of money and time when the chance of winning medals is slight. Would we be better off dealing with the obesity and health issue, as Deputy White has suggested, and encouraging people of average ability to participate at a local level? If we are on the international stage we are judged by our success and how many medals we win, rightly or wrongly. As different governing bodies we need to knock heads together to ensure that our athletes get the best coaching and the best of everything. Is that happening?
The chief executive officer of the Institute of Sport has resigned. I do now know the reason for that, but he is now going into politics. I wonder if that is a wise move but I wish the gentleman luck. Was his resignation connected to a conflict? I merely ask the question.
I welcome Mr. Treacy and his officials. It is important that they come before the committee. As we plan for London in 2012, it is important that we have an overview of what happened in Beijing and move forward from that. Senator Buttimer asked how we can create contacts throughout the world to form a training base in Ireland. It is important that we invite other countries to participate in competition and training in Ireland. That would encourage young people to become involved in supporting the Olympic movement and they would benefit from seeing competitors from other countries training. Have plans been made in that regard and what facilities might be used for training?
I am concerned about grants for participants in the Olympic Games. I have some knowledge of what grants are available. Could the grant be ring-fenced for training purposes so that the recipient could also receive social welfare payment? At present, means testing means this is not possible. It is a reflection of our attitude that while these people are our idols we cannot provide sufficient funding for them. They are young adults with the prospect of marrying and setting up permanent homes. Are we in danger of losing the momentum built up over years? I acknowledge the work done by Gary Keegan for boxing. I come from Athy, which is the home of boxing and I see what happens there. There is need to examine that funding. It is important to give security to people who will represent us. We cheer them when they come home and then forget about them. We must do something to ensure that competitors have security, both in their sporting activity and as citizens, when they have participated and made an important contribution to their sport.
We must accept that three of the four major Irish sports are not represented at the Olympic Games. For that reason, we lose many potential representatives. We must achieve a balance and maintain funding. There is clearly a problem in athletics but I hope it can be resolved soon. We all want to enjoy sport, to ensure the success of the sporting fraternity and to create a more healthy society. Can the funding regime be improved? Can the difficulty in athletics be resolved? Given that we are so close to London, what international contacts can be formed in preparation for 2012? It is important that we create bases for training in various sports and issue invitations to sports people. That would bring financial gain but we would also derive benefit from having international athletes come to Ireland. It is also important that we provide the level of equestrian competition that would attract international teams to Ireland.
The days when the late Billy Morton held major athletic meetings in Santry Stadium are long gone. The Cork City Sports is almost the only major Irish athletics event. Is this because we do not have the necessary finance to attract international athletes at that level?
Two reviews of the Beijing Olympics were carried out, one by the Irish Sports Council and one by the Olympic Council of Ireland. This adds to the public perception that sport is riven with petty differences. The Irish Sports Council review noted that a large amount of money is now spent on preparation for the Olympic Games and that finance is no longer an issue. Notwithstanding our success in the Olympics and the excellent performances of many of our athletes, many of them did not reach their personal bests in Beijing. One would imagine that if athletes are to peak it should be at the Olympic Games. If finance is not the issue, what is? Is the system wrong? Is it all about personalities, pettiness, politics, ego and power? This is what people are saying and it is the impression they have. The fact that the two bodies did not co-operate in preparing their reviews reinforces that perception.
This must impact on the various governing bodies and consequently on the athletes and must put them in an invidious position. Athletes do not know who their master is. They are afraid to let the Olympic Council of Ireland know they get on well with the Irish Sports Council, and vice versa. This cannot be conducive to best performance.
Why do we continue to have the problems we had post-Athens? Is there a prospect of change within the two organisations? Can they come together with a planned approach so that the next Olympics are not marred in the same way? Why are we making it difficult for ourselves and our athletes by failing to come together in training and the planning of programmes? Is it that the personality differences cannot be overcome? Everybody wants the best possible outcome for our athletes.
The second issue is related to the ongoing row regarding the withdrawal of funding to the Athletics Association of Ireland. I looked at the remit of the Irish Sports Council as I wondered on what basis funds could be withdrawn from an organisation. I could understand it if the council felt it was not getting value for money or if an organisation had failed to comply with certain conditions. We have not necessarily heard the full story but it appears again to be down to a clash of personalities. The Irish Sports Council eventually imposed its will on the governing body to ensure it took certain actions.
It is very disturbing that legal fees of €100,000 have already been incurred by the Athletics Association of Ireland. One of the recommendations in the Irish Sports Council report is that it extend its influence over the management of the governing bodies it funds. Who is in charge of sport? Is it the governing bodies or the Irish Sports Council? Is something fundamentally wrong with the relationship? Does something need to happen at a political level, to give leadership and bang a few heads together to reorganise the way sport is administered? The stories we hear, not just about the Athletics Association of Ireland but also about other organisations, do not reflect well on the bodies who administer sport.
Mr. Treacy may respond directly or delegate some of the questions to colleagues. Members of the committee appreciate that Mr. Treacy is only responsible for his own body.
Mr. John Treacy
I will try to clarify a few points. This was a very successful Olympic Games for Ireland. We came back with three medals and it was the first time since 1956 that three athletes won medals. The Beijing review was designed to ensure we got performances from all the governing bodies. There was performance after performance in Beijing and athletes lived up to their reputations. A question was asked about personal bests but it is difficult to achieve personal bests at the Olympic Games because athletes go to the four corners of the earth to qualify. It is not easy to get to the Olympic Games in peak condition.
The Irish Sports Council has no remit to test horses as that falls to the international body. Dr. Holmes of Horse Sport Ireland has compiled a report and that body is in charge of implementing it. The equestrian international body has a great deal of work to do to ensure information reaches riders on what is and what is not on the banned list. It was embarrassing that another Irish horse had failed a test but the Irish Sports Council has no responsibility for testing horses. We only test athletes.
There were a number of questions about the two reviews. Since the Irish Sports Council was established on a statutory basis in 1999, with a remit covering high performance sport, it has undertaken reviews in conjunction with the Olympic Council of Ireland. That body co-operated in the reviews after the Olympic Games in Sydney and Athens, was represented on the review committee in both cases and signed off on all the details. After the last Olympic Games we wrote and asked it to participate but it declined. We were not asked to participate in its review and not consulted during its preparation but there were ten pages of criticism of the Irish Sports Council. That is unfortunate.
The Sydney review clearly defined the remit of the Olympic Council of Ireland and that of the Irish Sports Council. The remit of the former is to deal with the last four weeks of the Olympic Games and involves selecting managers and the team, looking after accreditation and ensuring the team is adequately led in the games. The remit of the Irish Sports Council is to work with the sports governing bodies, to put performance plans and funding in place, to monitor that funding and to ensure we get a return on the investment made. It is required to provide supports and put in place the right performance managers and coaches. We live up to our remit by trying to maintain good relationships and matters were quiet for six or seven years. However, they changed dramatically at the start of this year after I had said there had not been an expectation that we would have seen such performances. We heard that there was a PR strategy during the Olympic Games to criticise the Irish Sports Council and it is very hard to work in partnership when that approach is taken. The relationship has been fixed before and will be fixed again but it is unfortunate that there were two reports. The Olympic Council of Ireland missed an opportunity because we were expecting it to report on the vital four week period when the athletes were in its custody and care, on vital issues such as the morale of the team. We understood it had appointed consultants to talk to the athletes but very little was reported about what had happened in the athletes' village.
The Irish Sports Council is always open to working with the Olympic Council of Ireland. We will continue to keep our door open and would like to engage with it. There was a degree of frustration with the criticism of the Irish Sports Council around the time of the Olympic Games. During the course of the games I was put in the position of having to defend the team the Olympic Council of Ireland was leading while the athletes were competing on the track. That is not a nice place to be during the Olympic Games. Criticisms of the team filtered back into the Olympic village and damaged morale, which is most unfortunate.
We in the Irish Sports Council are clear about our remit. The remit of the Olympic Council of Ireland is clearly defined in the Sydney review. Looking at international governing bodies for sport, which have the structure of a sports council and a separate Olympic council, there is always tension and this is borne out in the United Kingdom. It is not all honey and apple pie. The tensions can be harnessed to do good work for the athletes. Our door is open to the OCI. On the question of funding, the Irish Sports Council provided €500,000 for administration and programme costs. Essentially it supported 90% of the programme costs and 75% of the administration costs, which is a very high level of funding. The Irish Sports Council is not mealy mouthed, but generous in support of OCI. It is disappointing from that perspective.
The Irish Sports Council looked for the figures on sponsorship income and was told it would get them at the end of the year and that information was provided at the end of the year. The OCI has considerable reserves in place. It raised €350,000 approximately in sponsorship, it also had a sizeable income from marketing from the International Olympic Committee. I can get the details of all the figures for the committee.
I would appreciate that.
Mr. John Treacy
The OCI has considerable reserves of close to €1 million after the year.
A question was asked about the Institute of Sport and the remit of the Irish Sports Council. The high-performance unit of the Irish Sports Council is lead by Mr. Finbarr Kirwan, who is responsible for strategy in terms of identifying the focus sports. The ISC has targeted sports after Sydney and after Athens and is doing so again. Let me give an example. The ISC is targeting track cycling as a sport and is hoping to get a team pursuit in place. The remit of the Irish Sports Council is to deal with policy, strategy and funding the organisation's performance plans.
Mr. Gary Keegan is the technical director and his role is to ensure that the services that are delivered to the athletes are first class, such as psychology, sports medicine, sports science, strength and conditioning. He has a direct remit. I would classify his role as the tracksuit type who would be in the trenches with the athletes, coaches and performance directors and adding value to their contribution. The ISC was very fortunate to get Mr. Keegan to take on this role. He was performance manager for Irish boxing, where he has delivered and we are very fortunate to have him driving the programmes for the Institute of Sport.
Internal issues in the Athletics Association of Ireland have been aired in public but the AAI is dealing with them internally. I too have seen considerable disturbing correspondence that has been aired in recent days. The Irish Sports Council, as the custodian of State funding, has a responsibility to ensure that the funding is being used wisely. The Sports Council of Ireland is party to the process of making appointments to governing bodies. The AAI is dealing with the issue of appointment and I hope the matter, which is unsatisfactory from everybody's perspective, will be resolved shortly. The ISC did not withdraw funding from the AAI but is funding it on a monthly basis and the council is paying the high performance allocation so that athletes will not be disadvantaged in any way. It is up to the AAI to deal with its internal issues and take the sport to where it needs to go. As a former track and field athlete, I love athletics. It is unfortunate for the reputation of the Irish Sports Council that it gets dragged into internal disputes because of its role in bringing about good corporate governance in organisations.
The Irish Sports Council has to drive the development of sport and when sport is not the agenda, it causes problems. The ISC is trying to get the AAI to put sport on the agenda.
I will ask Mr. Keegan to comment on services and the lead-in to the Olympic Games.
Mr. Gary Keegan
The Institute of Sport is the technical arm of the Irish Sports Council. The institute is the service provider and its job is to ensure the quality delivery of services in science, medicine and performance management. The institute is broken into three departments, namely, performance medicine, performance science and athlete services, which is a department under performance services and performance management which looks after the continuous professional development of the performance managers and lead coaches. I hope it will provide a scholarship programme for up and coming high-performance coaches.
Prior to the Olympic Games in Beijing, the three departments were not fully set up. I took office in September 2008, after the games. The process has been accelerated during the past number of months and a professional quality assurance process has been developed for science professionals. We have had 45 applications to the institute for service providers in all the areas of physiology, nutrition, strength conditioning, psychology, bio-mechanics, etc. We have 30 qualified accredited individuals who will be service providers to the high-performance athletes going for places on the team for the London Olympics in 2012.
Prior to the Olympic Games in Beijing that service was in place but not directly from the institute and a number of the high-performance programmes would have their own sports science and medicine support staff. In the boxing team, there was an integrated system of support, including psychology, physiotherapy, physiology, nutrition, strength and condition and so on. Those service providers worked closely in hand with the management and the coaching team to develop the athletes to qualify for the Beijing games.
Many people may remember that after the World Championships, when only one boxer qualified, the team came under pressure from all quarters, including the OCI, on its performance. The Irish Sports Council stood firmly behind the team when it fought to gain the last two qualification places in Italy and Athens. Subsequently another four boxers qualified which enabled us to bring five to the Olympic Games.
One of the challenges of the relationship is for collaboration and consultation on who will be the support team for the Olympic Games. In Beijing we had services attached to the high-performance sports teams and the OCI and there was a combination of services in the Olympic village. In the case of the boxing team, our services were left outside the village. However, we managed to get passes for our psychology and physiotherapy support team which worked alongside the service providers in the Olympic village but there were passes in and out of the village only.
Mr. John Treacy
Mr. Kirwan will outline where we are going for the games in 2012 and some of the preparations in a number of sports.
Mr. Finbarr Kirwan
The key, as Mr. Treacy indicated, is that the process of performance planning is in place with the governing bodies. We have relationships that are working with the vast majority of the governing bodies with which we deal. The relationships are challenging and we challenge the individuals with whom we work. It does not always have to be cordial but the process is in place and we have strong relationships. Between 2002 and 2004 we began the process of developing performance plans with the governing bodies, identifying talent in the appropriate areas and wrapping support around that talent. Between 2004 and 2008 it was about developing a performance culture within those sports. For example, with regard to boxing, we identified a programme that we knew could deliver for us. The process of taking highly talented boxers, including them in a centralised programme in the National Stadium, placing quality people around them, including Mr. Keegan and his team of coaches, and wrapping the support services around the squad got us to where we were in Beijing. Underneath that, it is important to develop structures at junior and developmental level. The testament to the work done in boxing is not the medals won in Beijing but the four medals won at the junior world championships in Mexico last year. That is a testament to the programme because now we have internal competition within the programme. Boxers are competing for places and it is now more difficult to get into an Irish squad.
Between 2008 and 2012 we must take what we learned in that environment and replicate it across a number of sports. The Irish Sports Council's policy is to look at it in three ways. First, we will develop whole sport plans with governing bodies similar to what we did in boxing where lads from the age of 16 years will be wrapped with support, included in a centralised programme and follow their athlete pathway to the Olympic Games. We will then have performance projects, as Mr. Treacy indicated, an example of which would be a track cycling programme. We have begun to win medals at track cycling world cups. David O'Loughlin won two medals this year. Our aim for the Olympic Games in London is to qualify a track cycling team for the first time ever. It is a numbers-based business and the numbers enable us to be confident that we can do this.
We will have individual performance programmes for athletes. Mr. Keegan, particularly through the institute, will work with guys like Eoin Rheinisch who was fourth in Beijing and wrap full programmes of support around him to make sure he has all the services he needs and ensure he receives all the funding he needs in preparation for the games in London. We will also work directly with the governing bodies and the performance directors to make sure good coaches are in post and take Mr. Keegan's experience and bring it to bear. The difference between where we are now and where we were in 2004 is we have very good people in the system who are staying in it. It is a testament to the system that Mr. Keegan was offered a substantial position in the United Kingdom but chose to stay in Ireland. We are proud of this and our relationship with him, boxing and all the other governing bodies.
Performance planning has begun for the next Olympic Games. I refer again to the Irish Sport Council's relationship with the OCI. Is the committee involved? Has it been asked or invited to be involved? Given that athletes are such precious and fragile flowers at Olympics time, meeting the team to look after them only when they arrive in the Olympic village is not the way they should prepare.
Mr. Finbarr Kirwan
The OCI put that question to us in 2005 and we said the performance plans were proprietary to the governing bodies and, therefore, if the committee's representatives wished to work with the governing body, it was clearly entitled to sit down, work with the governing body and have a clear understanding of how the performance plans worked. Mr. Keegan can refer to the work he did with it.
Mr. Gary Keegan
In 2006 we shared all of our high-performance plan with the incoming chief executive officer of the OCI. We sat down, went through the plan and gave a written report to the OCI on all the workings of the Irish high-performance boxing programme. It had meetings with all the other NGBs at the time but I do not know what depth of information it got back from each programme.
It is obviously not working in terms of improving relations.
Mr. John Treacy
It had the information, despite what was in the report.
I am very impressed by all the planning and the way it has been outlined. At the end of the day, Mr. Keegan could not attend the events. That is the reality. I do not want to put people on the spot but is Mr. Treacy speaking with Mr. Pat Hickey? What is happening? I do not share an agenda with either side but we have brilliant plans and, as I am involved in sport, body language is sometimes vital where people are cut off from certain places. Must the Minister or somebody else come in to settle this once and for all? What is the story?
On the AAI issue, I am not as clear as I thought I would be when I asked if it would be sorted. Is the council telling the AAI to sort out the problem or will it be sorted?
Mr. Treacy said it was an internal problem but it was not generated internally. I acknowledge it is up to the AAI to sort it out but we are hearing a different story and muscle is being applied to the association now to sort out a problem that was not of its making in the first place. People must understand there are boundaries to behaviour, no matter who they are.
I acknowledge Mr. Treacy's comment that this is an internal issue but extensive documentation was forwarded to me that suggests otherwise. There will always be internal problems in organisations because that is the nature of life. It is much bigger than that and it might be important for the council to review what is happening and its role in it. Today is not the day to get into the specifics. The AAI must be protected in the widest sense in the context of Irish sport. If it takes another meeting with the council and-or with the AAI, the committee should facilitate that.
I raised the issue of utilising the talents of Sonia O'Sullivan. I do not blame Mr. Treacy but I would love him to say, "We will endeavour to have Sonia O'Sullivan training our athletes for London".
Mr. John Treacy
I would be absolutely delighted to have Sonia O'Sullivan working away. I have been very good friends with her down through the years. She was elected to the OCI last October. She was in Australia over the winter months but we welcome her to that body. It is great and I look forward to working with her. She is an astute young woman and she will add great value to the Irish sporting system.
The issues in the AAI are internal. There are personality issues within the AAI and we have been working with the president to help solve some of them. I have seen the correspondence the committee has seen and there are many untruths in it. We have tried to work with all sports; that is the approach we take.
I thank Mr. Treacy and his team for their contributions. I also thank the committee members for the full and frank exchange of views. This is not the end of the process but just another stage.
Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl daoibh go léir as ucht teacht anseo inniu. Gabhaim leithscéal thar cionn an mhoill a chuir muid oraibh, ach ní raibh neart againn ar sin. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir agus tá súil agam go gcasfaimid ar a chéile go luath amach anseo.
The joint committee adjourned at 4.50 p.m. sine die.