Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 11 Oct 2023

Inclusion in Sport: Discussion

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

The committee is meeting with departmental officials, key agencies and sporting organisations to continue its examination of inclusion in sport. I warmly welcome, Ms Mary O'Connor, CEO, Federation of Irish Sport, FIS; Ms Aoife Rafferty, people and culture director, and Mr. Ger McDermott, grassroots director, Football Association of Ireland, FAI; Mr. Tom Ryan, director general, and Mr. Ger McTavish, national diversity and inclusion manager, Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA; Ms Anne Marie Hughes, head of equity, diversity and inclusivity, and Mr. Ultan O'Callaghan, head of rugby development, Irish Rugby Football Union, IRFU; Dr. Una May, CEO, and Ms Helen McHugh, diversity and inclusion manager, Sport Ireland; Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire, principal officer with responsibility for sports policy, and Mr. James Lavelle, assistant principal officer with responsibility for sports policy, Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media.

As the witnesses are probably aware, the committee may publish their opening statements on its webpage. Before we proceed, I wish to explain some limitations on parliamentary privilege and the practice of the Houses as regards references witnesses may make to other persons in their evidence.

The evidence of witnesses physically present or who give evidence from within the parliamentary precincts is protected pursuant to both the Constitution and statute by absolute privilege, in respect of the presentations they make to the committee. Witnesses are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity. Therefore, if witnesses' statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative they comply with any such direction.

Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise, or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. I also remind members of the constitutional requirement that members must be physically present within the confines of Leinster House to participate in public meetings. I will not permit a member to attend where he or she is not adhering to that constitutional requirement. Any member who attempts to attend from outside the precincts will be asked to leave the meeting.

We will proceed with opening statements, and first up is Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire on behalf of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media.

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

I thank the Cathaoirleach and the members of the joint committee for this opportunity to speak about inclusion in sport. Increasing the level of participation in sport and physical activity across the whole population is a fundamental aim of the Government’s National Sports Policy 2018-2027 and is a priority for the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, and the Department. In pursuing that objective, we are committed to a sport for all approach aimed at ensuring that all persons have the opportunity to partake equally in sport and physical activity, regardless of gender, age, socioeconomic status, disability or membership of minority groups such as the LGBTI+ community, the Traveller community or other ethnic minorities. The Dormant Accounts Fund sports programme is the primary funding stream deployed exclusively to promote increased sports participation among disadvantaged communities and people with a disability. This programme provides financial supports to a wide range of locally inspired community projects undertaken by local sports clubs, associations and other interested parties under the active guidance of the 29 local sports partnerships around the country.

On the development and improvement of sports facilities, funding is provided by the Department under the sports capital and equipment programme and the large scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. In considering funding applications, both schemes prioritise projects that increase active sport participation by persons and groups that may be underrepresented in participation in sport, including women, persons with disability, ethnic minorities and those from disadvantaged areas. These priorities are built into the marking scheme for assessment of applications. Increasing funding for sports infrastructure to provide more facilities that will encourage people from all communities, abilities and backgrounds to get active and to get into sport, is a key long-term consideration and something on which the Minister and Minister of State are engaging with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform.

Encouraging and promoting greater participation in sport by women and girls is a core priority and our aim is to eliminate the gender participation gap in sport entirely by 2027. To this end, many national governing bodies, NGBs, are delivering programmes funded by Women in Sport and the Dormant Accounts Fund, which target segments of the population that were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, including females. The current Sports Action Plan 2018-2027 sets a specific target for all NGBs to achieve a minimum of 40% gender representation balance on their boards by the end of this year. It is a priority to enable women to take more leadership positions in sport and the 40% target reflects this prioritisation. The Ministers have been clear that failure to achieve this target will have serious funding implications for NGBs. The NGBs are taking this matter seriously and it was heartening to note the recent decision by the GAA to adjust its structures to achieve the 40% target on its management committee.

People are now living longer and, as our older population continues to increase, we must recognise the challenges and opportunities that this demographic shift presents for participation in sport. The potential for sport participation to affect positive development across the lifespan is now widely recognised and in that regard we will continue to support initiatives and programmes aimed at increasing participation among older people. Last year, Sport Ireland launched its first diversity and inclusion policy in sport, which will underpin our collective efforts to ensure that everyone feels welcome and included in sport in Ireland. Inclusion means to value people’s differences, make them feel welcome, respected and that they belong. It is imperative we increase understanding of the benefits of a diverse and inclusive sport sector. The greater the diversity of those involved in all aspects of sport – participation, membership, volunteering, supporting, attending events, management and administration – the better all of those areas will be. They will be more representative of the broader population.

Racism has been a problem in sport and in wider society for many years and remains a barrier to inclusion. Its existence in Ireland is by no means unique and other countries face similar challenges as we seek to confront it and do everything we can to eliminate it. Neither is it confined to just a few sports. It can occur in all sports and all settings. A number of recent incidents have highlighted the need for strong diversity awareness within all sports bodies, and across society. The Department is committed to a zero-tolerance approach to racism and to ensuring sport is as inclusive and welcoming as possible for everyone in our communities. While sport generally facilitates great diversity and interaction between cultures and backgrounds, we must remain vigilant. In response to several high-profile incidents of various forms of abuse in recent years, a new national code of conduct template for sporting organisations was launched by the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, in August. The template sets out a set of guidelines and principles that promote the behaviour and conduct expected from our athletes, coaches, parents, guardians, supporters, referees, officials and club members.

The Minister and Minister of State consider it a must for all sporting organisations to use the national code of conduct template as an opportunity to review their existing policies and procedures for handling code breaches, and to adopt and implement a rigorous system which ensures we have a safe and respectful environment for all involved in Irish sport. Through the implementation of the diversity and inclusion policy, we aim to see more people from diverse communities, including ethnic minorities, participating and engaging in lifelong sport and physical activity. This work will also assist us in participating constructively with our colleagues in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, in the planned implementation process for the National Action Plan Against Racism. It is imperative that we demonstrate that there is simply no place for violence and racism in sport. Inclusion in sport is a core element of Government policy and is reflected in a wide range of initiatives being implemented by the Department, Sport Ireland, NGBs and other stakeholders. I look forward to discussing these initiatives in more detail with the committee.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

I allowed Mr. Ó Conaire some leeway, but we have quite a lot of witnesses today so it would be fantastic if the remaining witnesses would stick to three minutes for their opening statements.

Dr. Una May

I thank the Cathaoirleach and committee members for the invitation to attend and discuss this important topic, which is at the heart of everything Sport Ireland is striving to achieve. I am joined by Ms Helen McHugh, Sport Ireland’s diversity and inclusion manager. I will start by reiterating, as I have done in the past, that Sport Ireland is not a regulator. It is the statutory authority tasked with the development of sport in Ireland. It is tasked with increasing participation in sport, supporting Ireland’s high-performance athletes, operating Ireland’s anti-doping programme, delivering coaching training, and developing the Sport Ireland campus in Blanchardstown, Dublin. Sport Ireland focuses its work on ensuring that Ireland is an active nation where all people are encouraged to participate, progress, and achieve in sport. Inclusion is a core value of the recently published Sport Ireland strategy and of the Government’s national sports policy. The commitment by Sport Ireland to address inequalities in sports participation is highlighted within three key policies, which are its policy on diversity and inclusion in sport, its policy on participation in sport by people with disabilities and its policy on women in sport. These policies are implemented through a range of measures undertaken directly by Sport Ireland, with the NGBs, local sports partnerships, Paralympics Ireland, Special Olympics Ireland, Active Disability Ireland, Age & Opportunity and other key partners.

Sport Ireland promotes inclusion through its diversity and inclusion policy, which was published in May 2022. The implementation of this policy is overseen by Ms McHugh, our full-time diversity and inclusion manager. While it is important to have a dedicated person responsible for leading our work in diversity and inclusion, it is crucial that our approach to inclusion is embedded throughout the organisation. Following the publication of this policy a representative diversity and inclusion in sport advisory group was formed in November of 2022. It assists, advises, and provides guidance to Sport Ireland about its actions regarding the implementation of the policy and the promotion of an inclusive sports sector in Ireland. Sport Ireland recognises that training and education in diversity and inclusion is key to ensuring sport is welcoming and inclusive. One of the high-level objectives in our diversity and inclusion policy is to develop a suite of capacity building and education resources for the sport sector to empower it to cater for the needs of diverse communities at national and club level. In recent weeks, the media has reported on the issue of racism in sport.

I reiterate that, similar to the organisation I lead and represent, I personally condemn racism in any form. It has no place in sport or society.

A wide range of Government funding is invested by Sport Ireland to deliver an inclusive sport sector in Ireland. In 2023, Sport Ireland will invest €10 million in the network of local sports partnerships and €2 million in funding in disability-focused governing bodies in sport. This is an increase in 2022 funding.

Sport Ireland has successfully applied to the European Social Fund programme and has been awarded €11 million for the implementation of a social innovation and inclusion programme over the next five years. Through the women in sport programme, Sport Ireland invested €2 million in 2023 across 50 organisations to support the development and implementation of programmes and initiatives targeting women in sport.

In the area of high performance, Sport Ireland values our Paralympic and Olympic athletes and medals equally and has provided equal funding to para-sport athletes under the international carding scheme since the scheme’s inception in 1999.

Alongside funding, Sport Ireland engages with and works closely with over 60 autonomous national governing bodies, NGBs, in sport to raise awareness of and promote behaviours to uphold best practice and fair play in all sport. In August last, Sport Ireland published a code of conduct template that outlined good practice procedures required of all those who participate in sport.

Sport Ireland tracks and monitors participation of adults and children in sports through our research studies. We have also closely monitored the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic when we saw a drop in sports participation across the board. Some sections of society returned quicker than others. We have seen a widening of the disability gap from 17% in 2019 to 20% in 2022. This is an area we will tackle. However, I am pleased to say that there has been very positive progress in other areas. As regards women in sport, when the sports monitor was first implemented in 2007, the gap in sports participation between men and women stood at 16%. It now stands at 5%. The early indicators from our research in 2023 is that the gap is reducing even further.

Participation in sport remains highest among white Irish people, at 56%, compared with 53% among black people, Asian people or other backgrounds and 51% among people from other white backgrounds.

In the past year, Sport Ireland has undertaken a review of our women in sport policy. We are undertaking a review of our policy on participation in sport by people with disabilities. We have also created a detailed implementation plan to deliver the actions from our diversity and inclusion policy.

Through our continued efforts, Sport Ireland aims to create a sport sector that celebrates diversity, promotes inclusion and is proactive in providing opportunities for lifelong participation for everyone.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

I thank Dr. May. I invite Ms Mary O'Connor from the Federation of Irish Sport to make her opening statement.

Ms Mary O'Connor

I thank the Chairperson, Deputies and Senators for inviting the Federation of Irish Sport to make a submission on inclusion in sport. For those who may not be familiar with the work of the federation, we are an independent representative body for 110 sporting organisations across Ireland, including 81 national governing bodies and 29 local sports partnerships, LSPs.

The Federation of Irish Sport's briefing statement on inclusion in sport refers in detail to the various themes and discusses participation in sport, leadership structures, officials, coaches, players and spectators-audiences. Today, our opening statement will broadly touch on these topics and outline recommendations to be considered to further ensure that inclusion in sport in Ireland is enhanced.

One of the core values of the national sports policy is the promotion of inclusion. It states:

Sport must be welcoming and inclusive, offering appropriate opportunities for participation and improvement to all. We will promote inclusion to deliver our desired outcomes focusing on addressing social, disability, gender, ethnic and other gradients.

The accompanying Sports Action Plan 2021-2023 has several dedicated actions on inclusion and participation, including delivering an information campaign highlighting the unacceptability of prejudice, racism, homophobia and all forms of discrimination in sport. In 2020, Sport Ireland commissioned specific research relating to diversity and inclusion in sport. In May 2022, it launched its first diversity and inclusion policy, which expresses its vision for a sports sector that celebrates diversity, promotes inclusion and is proactive in providing opportunities for lifelong participation for everyone.

The policy identified a number of strategic pillars to guide the implementation of the policy. These pillars are change, communication, access, capacity and leadership. It is important that, 12 months on from publication, an update on the outputs of that policy so far be published and in addition, that the evidence from Sport Ireland's Irish sports monitor, which was launched in September 2023 and is a large population study undertaken to provide trends in participation in sport and physical activity in Ireland, be reviewed to ensure targeted actions. For example, in relation to inclusion, the Irish sports monitor revealed that the active sport gradient between women and men is 0.3% higher than it was in 2017; the difference in sports participation rates between people of upper and lower socioeconomic status and people with or without disabilities have increased since 2021 and are the widest on record; the disability gradient was 20% in 2022; and one in ten women who experienced verbal or physical harassment stopped participating in sport, while 39% made changes such as when and where they participated.

The Federation of Irish Sport have made the following recommendations: that funding be provided for NGBs to recruit sport inclusion officers to target inclusion of under-represented groups, which, unlike local sports partnerships, LSPs, are currently excluded from funding; that diversity and inclusion training be undertaken by all professional staff of NGBs and LSPs; that diversity and inclusion training be incorporated into existing coach and official education courses; that all NGBs be supported to use the code of conduct template as an opportunity to review their existing policies and procedures for handling code breaches in respect of abuse towards referees, officials, coaches and players and to help promote good practice within all sport; that action 2.1 of the Sports Action Plan 2021-2023 be commenced to focus especially on delivering an information campaign highlighting the unacceptability of prejudice, racism, homophobia, and all forms of discrimination in sport; and that action 7.2 be commenced for the 2023 sports monitor in order to better understand the barriers for people participating and to refine our understanding of the issues around participation and non-participation.

The federation believes inclusion is about being proactive and enacting actions to make people from all backgrounds, ages and abilities to feel welcome and respected and that they belong in Irish sport and physical activity.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

I thank Ms O'Connor. I invite Mr. Tom Ryan of the GAA to make his opening statement.

Mr. Tom Ryan

When the GAA launched its new manifesto, Where We All Belong, in 2019, we considered it a statement of intent and a call to action. It exists as a reminder of the GAA’s values of inclusivity and community identity, and of the standards that we wish to live by.

The association is considered by many to be a cornerstone of Irish society. If we are to truly deserve that esteem, we must reflect a modern Ireland. As evidenced in the 2022 census, the face of our communities and national profile is changing with migrant populations adding ever increasingly to the rich tapestry of Irish life. The same applies to the GAA. In recent years, I have been proud to see players from diverse ethnic backgrounds take centre stage in leading senior inter-county teams.

The successes and challenges of inclusivity are to be found away from the spotlight too. As well as ensuring that as many people as possible from diverse backgrounds can experience and enjoy Gaelic games, inclusivity in the GAA also means ensuring that our games are accessible to those who have additional needs. We promote this under the banner, GAA for All. We have developed adapted games to cater for our members who in previous generations would not have been able to access football or hurling and all of the benefits they can bring. This programme has been enthusiastically embraced in clubs around the country which now offer our All Star programme. This involves playing and game experiences for persons across a broad spectrum of intellectual and physical disabilities. This means meaningful participation, connection and community. Make no mistake, however - for our wheelchair hurlers pulling on their provincial jersey is no less an honour than it is for their Liam McCarthy or Sam Maguire counterparts.

The GAA has recently developed a player pathway, which reflects a broad and inclusive approach to participation in Gaelic games. It determines the parameters for learning and participation for all players as they progress from juvenile Go Games to adult competition and beyond. We set out to cater for players of all abilities, including provision for those with additional needs. We strive to promote social games to cater for adults who have aged beyond formal competition, dropped out of sport altogether since their youth or are completely new entrants to the family of Gaelic games.

Much of our work and most of our impact is at local community level and is undertaken by our most valuable resource, our community volunteers, and so it is with inclusion. One recent and very evident manifestation of this occurred during the pandemic. By May 2020, almost 20,000 GAA volunteers were delivering essential goods and supports to almost 35,000 older people who were forced to physically isolate due to the threat of Covid-19. We have witnessed similar responses by our clubs to ensure that visitors fleeing the war in Ukraine are warmly welcomed into their new communities. To maximise the GAA's contribution to Irish social capital and cohesion, the Irish Life GAA healthy club programme was pioneered in 2013. From a pilot involving 16 clubs, the programme now engages 450 clubs across the association and really brings our ethos to life.

As I mentioned, our manifesto represents a call to action. We want the GAA to be somewhere where we all belong. A lot more needs to be done in Irish society to remove the barriers that prevent those from minority population groups, such as the LGBTQ and Traveller communities, those with disabilities and refugees, from fully engaging in Irish life.

We believe that sport in general, and the GAA in particular, can be a catalyst and an entry point for such people, and we want to play our part in making that happen. Please be assured that the GAA is committed to this cause. It will deliver a better, broader, stronger and more vibrant GAA in the years to come. It will be a GAA that fully reflects modern Irish life and we will be better equipped to ensure our continued contribution to it.

I am grateful to the joint committee for the opportunity to present our thinking to its members. I look forward to learning from members and our colleagues in the other sporting organisations today and in future as we promote inclusion in sport together.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

I thank Mr. Ryan. I invite Ms Rafferty from the FAI to make her opening statement.

Ms Aoife Rafferty

I thank the committee for the invitation to address it on the important issue of inclusion in sport. At the FAI, we can see that sport has the unique ability to bring people from all walks of life together and has an important role to play in promoting diversity and inclusion across Irish society. We believe football is the most inclusive and accessible of all sports and diversity and inclusion are at the heart of much of our work. We also believe football reflects what is a changing Ireland. Our population is growing and becoming increasingly diverse and football, as the global game, has a key role to play as we embrace this new population. The FAI’s strategic vision is to "use football to inspire the nation and connect communities" and our mission is "to grow participants to our game and deliver the best footballing experience for all". Today, over 450,000 people in Ireland participate in football as players, coaches, officials and volunteers, making football the single biggest participation sport in the country.

In our written submission to this committee, we have outlined the wide range of programmes and projects we are supporting to drive greater participation in football across Ireland and how driving greater female participation in our sport is a key priority for all of us in the FAI. The strong level of support we have seen across the country for our national women’s football team, with a record attendance of 36,000 at its recent Nations League game against Northern Ireland in the Aviva Stadium following the team's debut appearance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this summer, is an example of the success we have seen in promoting the women’s game here.

At the FAI, we have a clear focus on encouraging all members of the community to participate in football. We do this because we believe football belongs to everyone, its joyful simplicity transcends borders and cultures and we want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to play the "beautiful game". In our submission, we have detailed our actions to promote diversity and inclusion in football across the following areas: increasing female participation and driving gender equality and representation throughout our sport; linking sport and disability; addressing and supporting mental health issues via football; working with and integrating the LGBTQIA+ community; embracing people and communities from diverse ethnic, cultural, religious or national backgrounds; grassroots sport and socioeconomic diversity; and encouraging older people to stay involved with football.

The FAI works closely with all key stakeholders in relation to our approach to inclusion, including UEFA and FIFA as well as central and local government in Ireland, and of course Sport Ireland and many other dedicated and specialist organisations. In our strategy for 2022-25, we outlined our vision and stated purpose to enrich the lives of all through positive football experiences, with the six key pillars of our strategy designed to deliver on this ambition. In particular, our strategic pillars of transforming football facilities and infrastructure, driving grassroots football as the heart of the game, nurturing football pathways for all and developing the full potential of football for women and girls will support the creation of an environment that will enable football to build upon its position as the most inclusive and accessible of all sports.

As I mentioned, we believe that sport, and football in particular, has the power to bring people together and we welcome the committee’s efforts to examine the measures being taken by sporting organisations here around diversity and inclusion. My colleague, Mr. McDermott, and I welcome the opportunity to respond to any questions the members may have on how the FAI is promoting inclusion in football.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

I thank Ms Rafferty. Finally, I call Ms Hughes from the IRFU.

Ms Anne Marie Hughes

I thank members for the opportunity to attend today and outline the experience of and commitment by the IRFU regarding inclusion in sport. I address the committee in my capacity as head of equity, diversity and inclusivity, EDI, a new role created within the IRFU demonstrating its commitment to this area of the game. Having previously worked as the safeguarding and inclusion officer and as manager of the spirit of rugby programme, inclusivity has been a key element of my work on behalf of the IRFU. I am joined by Mr O’Callaghan, head of rugby development, and both of us will be more than happy to answer any questions members may have.

The spirit of rugby programme was created in 2017 to protect and promote the values of the game and to encourage a culture within clubs where the values of the game can be demonstrated in all activities. Inclusivity is one of these core values and is embedded in the IRFU's strategic plan, which outlines the values and behaviours acceptable within the Irish rugby family, where diversity of opinion and culture means working together to be a vibrant and respectful organisation. We aim to make the game as accessible as possible and to provide a positive experience for those who walk through the gate of their local rugby club.

In 2020, the IRFU appointed a dedicated disability and inclusion officer. The focus of the officer's work is the expansion of our rugby offerings for players with a disability and, in recent times, this remit has widened to attract players from the LGBTQI+ community. The IRFU is currently providing rugby activities to over 1,000 players with a disability across the four provinces. Increased participation of women at all levels of the game is a very specific target for the IRFU and this programme is now showing significant results, with participation increasing from 2022 by 21% in mini rugby, 28% in youth rugby and 26% in adult rugby. In addition, we record female coaching up by 58% and refereeing up by 50%, while more than 145 clubs are now providing a specific female pathway. The 2018 women in rugby action plan articulates the IRFU’s aim for rugby to be a sport of equal opportunity. A deep, independent review of the action plan in 2022 added even greater impetus to our approach.

As head of EDI for the IRFU, a significant part of my role is to develop a detailed EDI policy and to ensure the implementation of best practice in the area of inclusion, including the attainment of 40% female representation within the governance of the game by the end of this year. To support the next generation of volunteers, a leadership programme has been established with 50% of places targeted for female leaders.

The IRFU’s spirit of rugby charter states that everyone has a right to learn, play and administer the game, irrespective of differences in age, orientation, socioeconomic or ethnic background. It is the intention of the IRFU that all clubs will become inclusive spaces, irrespective of one's sexual orientation or ethnic background. While we have several clubs using tag rugby as a welcoming entry point to rugby, the aim is that clubs will feel welcoming to all players.

In September, the IRFU partnered with the Irish Centre for Diversity to complete an EDI survey with staff and this will continue in 2024 with the input of clubs across the country. Results will form the framework for the IRFU EDI action plan. As recently as this weekend, we collaborated with the GAA and FAI to kick-start the respect our games campaign, highlighting that when people feel respected and involved, they have a positive experience and are more likely to stay involved throughout their lives. The IRFU will continue to provide leadership, guidance and support to our clubs to enable an inclusive environment to pervade across our membership. Every participant needs to know they will be offered a positive experience through rugby and that starts with the welcome at the gate. I assure the committee that Irish rugby is committed to inclusivity within our sport. I thank members for their time.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

I thank Ms Hughes and all the witnesses for their statements. We will now invite questions from members. Each member has a nine-minute slot for questions and answers, in accordance with the speaking rota circulated. Is that agreed? Agreed. I am first on the rota and because I have to leave in about 15 minutes, I will speak first. We may have to nominate another member to take the Chair before I leave but we will deal with that when we come to it.

I again thank the witnesses for attending our meeting. They clearly all understand what an important issue inclusion in sport is. The timing of this discussion is also very important for reasons stated by some of the witnesses and in light of some recent events.

I abhor racism in all its forms. I regard it as one of the lowest forms of human behaviour. As a country, we had seemed to have come so far in terms of inclusivity and inclusion of people from different cultures, races and nationalities, but that is it. We have only come so far. Racism still festers within society and still exists within sport. We need to stamp it out.

On that note, we have to discuss the content of a recent video that gained an international profile and international views and which has become a massive talking point in recent weeks. The video is of an event that took place approximately 18 months ago. Everybody will have seen it, but it is important to describe what happened and what appears to have happened. It is a Gymnastics Ireland event. There is a medal-giving ceremony with a line-up of almost all white young children with one black child. What proceeds is that the white children are awarded with medals but the black child is seemingly ignored. Anybody with a heart who saw the look of confusion on that young black child's face would be heartbroken to see what transpired. It led to a point where one of the best gymnasts we have ever seen, Simone Biles, criticised what transpired but also reached out to the family of this young black child, which is absolutely extraordinary. The events have not just tarnished Ireland's reputation as an inclusive country but, more importantly, have had a devastating impact on the family and on the young child in the video.

With that in mind, my questions with regard to that event are about what has been done to get clarification on exactly what happened. The silence from Gymnastics Ireland has been disappointing to say the least. This group obviously has an affiliation with Sport Ireland and I assume would have received funding from Sport Ireland. It would have an affiliation with the Federation of Irish Sport. I believe it is an affiliate member. Obviously, the Department also has to issue a statement about where it stands on this issue. My question for those three bodies is what efforts have been made to clarify what happened at that event 18 months ago? What efforts have been made to get clarification from Gymnastics Ireland? If it is the case that what transpired was intentional, have there been efforts to remediate that and seek apologies? When events like this happen what do the Department or sporting bodies do to ensure organisations that do not have proper procedures in place to ensure these types of events do not happen are not rewarded with national funding? These are the types of questions people have. Will the Department, Sport Ireland and the Federation of Irish Sport tell us their views on the incident and where we go from here?

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

There are two things from the Department's point of view. First, the incident should not have happened. It was very disappointing to see it. Anybody who saw the video, as the Cathaoirleach outlined, would find it very disappointing. The child was badly let down, and the Department has said that in statements, and the Ministers have said that. It is right and proper that Gymnastics Ireland issued an apology. It was unfortunate that the process took so long inasmuch as this incident happened in March last year. We understand there was a mediation process between the family and Gymnastics Ireland, but it dragged out until August this year. The length of time was definitely very disappointing.

Both the Minister and Minister of State wrote to Gymnastics Ireland about this incident to ask what measures would be put in place to ensure something like this did not happen again. They also referenced the national code of conduct, which I mentioned earlier. They are writing to all national governing bodies, NGBs, to ask them, on foot of this and similar incidents, which might not have been racist incidents but were incidents of violence and so on and which I mentioned earlier, to use the new national code of conduct template to review their existing policies, where is a policy in place, and if there is not a policy in place, to address that.

I am not here to speak for Gymnastics Ireland but it has responded and has outlined a number of steps it is taking immediately to address the issue. It has recently advertised for the role of a safe sport and integrity lead whose sole responsibility will be to handle complaints of a sensitive nature. It has resolved to establish a new diversity and inclusion subcommittee with the sole purpose of overseeing a robust implementation of its diversity inclusion and policy. It has resolved to strengthen existing codes of conduct to incorporate the new national code of conduct for sport into its own processes. It has also invited Sport Against Racism Ireland, SARI, to a meeting so it can listen to that organisation's suggestions on what further steps Gymnastics Ireland can take to deliver on its commitments to diversity and inclusion. Those actions are welcome from the Department's point of view, but it has raised a wider issue, which we have mentioned in the opening statements. We are keen, and that is why Ministers are now writing to all NGBs asking them to review their policies. We had already done work in this area with the code of conduct. It is about embedding that within the NGBs throughout the country to make sure they have steps and procedures in place to deal with these issues when they arise and to make sure they are dealt with properly and in a timely fashion.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

What awareness did Sport Ireland have of the incident? What steps has it taken to ensure Gymnastics Ireland addresses and clarifies what has happened? What further steps has Sport Ireland taken in this regard?

Dr. Una May

I reiterate the Department's view. There is unanimous agreement that what occurred was wrong and should never have arisen. We cannot say what the intent behind it was, but regardless of intent, it is important we take into consideration the hurt felt by the family and the individual concerned. It is very important that proper procedures are in place, and we followed up with Gymnastics Ireland in a similar way to the Ministers and received the same advice. I will not repeat the actions to be taken by Gymnastics Ireland.

From Sport Ireland's point of view, we have our diversity and inclusion policy, which, as I have made reference to, is a representative group. Sport Against Racism Ireland is a member of the advisory group and part of the group supporting us with the implementation of this policy. We have an action plan supporting that policy. Included in that action plan is detailed support for building capacity in the sector, including training and education. We have agreed to fast-track that training now. Within Sport Ireland we have already held our first round of internal staff training on anti-racism and unconscious bias. We will fast-track it and my colleague Ms McHugh will be able to give some details of the actions in the diversity and inclusion policy and our plans around training and education campaigns and awareness.

Ms Helen McHugh

Specifically in this regard, our approach to education, training and awareness will look to procure and roll out some anti-racism and unconscious bias training for the sector and make that available across all national governing bodies and local sports partnerships. That would be incorporated into our overall plans anyway, but as Dr. May mentioned, we are fast-tracking it. On the provision of other resources and support, we provide funding for organisations such as Active Disability Ireland to deliver training. We develop guidance and support the code of conduct, and we are also delivering other guidance and supports. We are working in the area of gender balance as well, so it is a suite of resources.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

I appreciate that and I appreciate the suite of measures to try to ensure it does not happen again. However, are there any consequences for Gymnastics Ireland on the back of this event?

Dr. Una May

I will take the opportunity to remind everybody that Sport Ireland is not a regulatory body. It is not our position to take actions against-----

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

But it is the funding body.

Dr. Una May

-----individual national governing bodies. We provide them with the supports to ensure these sorts of issues do not arise, and by continuing to provide with ongoing support and guidance in the area.

In addition, in the same way as Gymnastics Ireland has done, we have invited members of the African community. We have also invited Sport Against Racism Ireland to provide us with any further insights or actions we can take. We were disappointed that this issue arose and that Gymnastics Ireland's processes were not strong, but it is part of our ongoing process to ensure governing bodies have the capacity to deliver on all the areas of inclusion. Part of that is having strong governance in place. That is something we have been working on with the governing bodies for many years.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

We will move on. My final question is to Ms O'Connor. It is an affiliate member of the Federation of Irish Sport. Have there been any repercussions for Gymnastics Ireland following this event?

Ms Mary O'Connor

Gymnastics Ireland is a member of the Federation of Irish Sport. The information I have is similar to Mr. Ó Conaire's, so I will not reiterate it. We became aware of it like everybody else and we were extremely disappointed. There had been a commitment from Gymnastics Ireland to review its policies and procedures so that something like this would never happen again. On a wider scale, it is a wake-up call for the sector to reflect on where it is at. To directly answer the Deputy's question, from the point of view of the Federation of Irish Sport, there have not been any repercussions on the organisation's membership.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

I have gone well over my nine minutes at this point. Unfortunately, because I have to attend another event, we will have to nominate another Cathaoirleach Gníomhach to take over.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

I nominate Senator Warfield.

Senator Fintan Warfield

What?

Senator Malcolm Byrne

You are nearest to the Chair.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

You do not have to agree to do it, Fintan, if you do not want to.

Senator Fintan Warfield

Go on so.

Deputy Chris Andrews

I second the nomination.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

Are there any objections to Senator Warfield taking over as Cathaoirleach Gníomhach? No. I thank Senator Warfield.

Senator Fintan Warfield

Sinn Féin are taking over now.

Senator Fintan Warfield took the Chair.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Senator Fintan Warfield)

We are going to keep it with Sinn Féin, so Deputy Andrews is up next.

Deputy Chris Andrews

I thank all the groups. There have been very interesting presentations from everybody. I acknowledge to the groups that, in my experience and from what I see day-in, day-out, there is a real effort and commitment to improving female participation in various sports. I was at Sport Ireland which had a presentation on participation and young people. It was a very wide report.

The FAI has done fantastic work on female participation. Being out in Tallaght and being a Shamrock Rovers supporter, the buzz around women's football is absolutely fantastic. It is great. What capital programmes are in place for grassroots football and for League of Ireland football to ensure modern facilities are being put in place for female players?

Mr. Ger McDermott

I can start that answer. The existing programmes for which we will apply, which are standard programmes such as sports capital funding, are quite important. We have increased our level of support directly to our clubs to help them with that. The Deputy will have seen our recent launch of our facility's investment strategy. We wanted to take a look at where we currently stood on our overall facility environment, looking at what clubs do and do not have. Interestingly, a huge proportion of our clubs cannot actually access that fund, largely because they do not own or have a long lease over their facility and land. Part of our intention under that investment strategy would be to create an Irish football facility fund. We have asked for 40% funding from Government, 40% from local authorities and 20% from football. We will soon be appointing somebody to head up that fund. The intention behind it is to exhaust any and all available funds for facility development and, as part of the strategy, ring-fence it to ensure clubs develop facilities that are adequate for female players. For example, more than 30% of our grassroots clubs do not have toilet facilities or changing facilities that are designated for female players, which is a clear barrier to participation.

Deputy Chris Andrews

It is a huge barrier. It was great to get Euro 2028. I think Ireland is getting €6.2 million of the UEFA legacy fund. I presume that is just for the Twenty-six Counties and not for the island of Ireland?

Mr. Ger McDermott

Yes, it is under our jurisdiction. It is under the FAI's jurisdiction.

Deputy Chris Andrews

Will much of that €6.2 million legacy fund be for projects that relate to inclusion? Will they benefit from that €6.2 million? The figure of €6.2 million is not to be sniffed at, but it will not address the huge gap in funding that League of Ireland football and grassroots football need. The figure of €6.2 million, given the amount of money it will cost the State to host the competition, seems to me to be very small. I am concerned that there will be a lack of momentum in terms of the goodwill towards League of Ireland currently and grassroots football. I am concerned that the funding will not match the demand and the need for resources. Will some of the €6.2 million be diverted towards inclusion projects?

Mr. Ger McDermott

It will, for sure. We publicly stated just yesterday that it will go towards facility investment and other initiatives. Importantly, under our facility investment strategies, for clubs to access funds that either we have directly or the Government provides, we want them to provide football for girls and be very diverse in their make-up. From the perspective of other initiatives, we will have bespoke programmes, and we run many of those already, to ensure, when it comes to those who are marginalised in society, we will address diversity by ensuring any club that takes funding to run any of these programmes is diverse and accessible to the point where someone who takes part in one of those programmes is immediately welcomed as a member.

On the issue of capacity, as we have clearly stated in the investment strategy document, with the Women's World Cup we have just participated in, we wanted to highlight, as the Deputy has just pointed out, the fact there could be and will be a huge demand to play. To meet that demand, our facility infrastructure has to improve as rapidly as possible.

Deputy Chris Andrews

On the GAA, the mission statement of the GAA states, “The GAA is a community based volunteer organisation promoting Gaelic games, culture and lifelong participation.” Age Action has been critical of a move towards cashless payments into matches. Two thirds of those aged over 65 rely on cash. Does that move away from cash payments contradict the mission statement? Does it suggest that the GAA is not age friendly?

Mr. Tom Ryan

I hope it does not. I am aware of a lot of the noise around that particular issue. We introduced a cashless-----

Deputy Chris Andrews

The word "noise" is not a very-----

Mr. Tom Ryan

I do not mean that disrespectfully. There is quite a large amount of criticism of it and I am aware of that. Apologies.

We introduced what I would call cashless ticketing. We ask people to buy their tickets in advance when going to games. In actual fact, if somebody wants to buy a ticket to go to a GAA game, they can pay in cash. They can pay in cash at more than 300 or 400 supermarket outlets around the country. They can pay cash at more than 1,600 clubs and 32 county offices. Therefore, contrary to what might have been the perception, we have a very large cash network. We just do not operate it at grounds at the time of the game-----

Deputy Chris Andrews

That is the point, is it not? People show up to the grounds. They do not always make it to the local Spar, if there is one close to them. Is it a huge ask to have that facility on the grounds, in terms of the logistics of organising it?

Mr. Tom Ryan

Cash places a burden on those voluntary people the Deputy mentioned, both in terms of the administration and in terms of a security risk. It also makes an event a little more difficult to organise because you do not have, with certainty, an idea of how many people will be there. On the Deputy's point about the supermarkets, off the top of my head, out of the 32 counties on the island, I think there is such an outlet in 27 of those that is within 1 km of the grounds. We are looking to expand that, which we will do in 2024.

We are unfortunate enough to be talking at the end of a season where, I think I am right in saying, we had our best attendances. Tracking the attendance of people for whom Age Action would speak, the figure is about 10%. We are not experiencing difficulty with regard to people in general accessing tickets. I know the anecdotal cases the Deputy has mentioned and I do not dismiss those for a second, but elderly people are coming in significant numbers, and in bigger numbers than ever, to our games.

For obvious reasons, we have not made a big song or dance about this but we have a small contingency programme in place. If people show up to a game, there will be somebody at the venue who will help them to gain access. We put those measures in place throughout the national league at the start of last year. Interestingly, we saw the take up for them start to dwindle week by week as the games went on. In one game in Castlebar, only 11 people required assistance. We were glad to help them, and perhaps there were more who did not come on the day. We are doing our best to make sure that we can accommodate everybody who wants to go to a game, but there are organisational things which we need to bear in mind. For example, if an elderly person wants to go to a game there is comfort in having a ticket in advance rather than taking a chance and showing up on the day. It works both ways.

Deputy Chris Andrews

I thank Mr. Ryan. Age Action has said GAAGO is a barrier to older people participating and being involved in the GAA. There seems to be a sense that the GAA is becoming a little bit gentrified, moving towards becoming more corporate and putting up barriers to the participation of older people. Is GAAGO a barrier for older people?

Mr. Tom Ryan

I will answer the specifics of the questions and then defer to my colleague, Ms McTavish, who will be able to elucidate a little bit more in general terms how we look to engage elderly people. The issue with GAAGO is probably more to do with the availability of broadband rather than the service itself.

Deputy Chris Andrews

Sorry for interrupting. I am conscious of the time. Mr. Ryan referred to broadband. If the service is free to air, broadband is not an issue.

Mr. Tom Ryan

We spoke about this topic not so long ago. The Deputy will probably remember that. I do not have the information off the top of my head today like I did on that occasion. The number of free to air games shown in 2023 was significantly - in the order of 20% or 30% - higher than would have been the case previously. There is a perception that games are on GAAGO which otherwise would have been on free to air broadcast. That is not the case. Free to air broadcast has increased significantly. I am conscious of the broadband issue I mentioned. We do not mean to absolve ourselves of responsibility in terms of how we deal with it. It is not purely within our gift, but if that advanced a little bit quicker it is something that would help us. Another thing we have done, which we may need to publicise a little bit more, is that we have a specific package available to nursing homes and care facilities for people who, for reasons of finance or whatever, are not able to avail of the service. It is free to those facilities. We are not becoming gentrified or exclusive or turning our back on any demographic of Irish society. That is not our intention. We will never do that.

Ms Ger McTavish

There are two or three initiatives running through the GAA. One is Age Friendly Ireland, a collaboration through Age Friendly Stadium, which is making our stadiums and clubs more accessible through an accessibility and mobility audit. We also have GAA Generations, which involves younger transition year future leaders asking individuals their stories. The third programme, which has been in place for many years, is a social initiative. The initiative was launched by Mary McAleese and has continued to run every single year. Many older colleagues were officers and are now back in the nurseries helping with coaching and training. They attend a social initiative and take trips to county centres, centres of excellence and Croke Park. Many initiatives are working. Accessibility audits are also currently under way.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

I thank all of the witnesses for being here today and for their continued work in this area. I am conscious of the irony of only male Deputies and Senators raising questions around gender equity. On the target of 40% gender equity on the governing bodies of NGBs by the end of the year, will that be reached with all governing bodies?

Dr. Una May

I thank the Senator for the question. His observation was noted, but the ladies here are sticking together. It is very important and there are solid moves. We expect some of the smaller governing bodies will struggle with this and we hope they will not be disadvantaged by their inability to achieve the target. All of the signs are that we are making very good progress in this direction. In the past number of months we have seen some key national governing bodies demonstrate their commitment through extraordinary general meetings and AGMs in order to change their constitutions.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

I am conscious of Mr. Ó Conaire's point about the end of the year. How many governing bodies will not have achieved the target by the end of this year? When is it anticipated that all NGBs will have achieved the 40% target?

Dr. Una May

I cannot entirely predict that, but the vast majority will have achieved it by the end of this year. The key governing bodies expect to have achieved it by the end of this year. We are working very closely with some smaller ones to provide them with supports and the support of the federations board match service has been invaluable in ensuring that even the smaller governing bodies have access to people who can serve as independent board members.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

Okay. Would it be fair to say that those who have not achieved that will achieve it during 2024?

Ms Ger McTavish

Unless they do, there will be sanctions. The Minister has been very clear about the intention to implement financial sanctions where a governing body has not successfully met that target. Those sanctions will kick in immediately at the beginning of 2024.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

I thank Ms McTavish. I want to turn to the issue of participation by those who identify as LGBT+. A number of sports people and sporting groups have come before the committee to talk about a lot of the grassroots work, which is very positive. From the FAI to the GAA and IRFU, an enormous about of positive work has been done, in particular at grassroots level. I will quote from the GAA's submission on inclusion in sport which is interesting. It states: "Much still needs to be done (almost exclusively on the male side of the Gaelic Games family) to remove the barriers that prevent members of the LGBTQ+ community from openly living that element of their identity in the GAA". My question is for the FAI, GAA and IRFU. Why are there not more professional or inter-county level male players who identify as gay?

Ms Anne Marie Hughes

It is a good question. I guess we do not know the answer because it is so individual and based on the players. Foremost, they identify as rugby players rather in terms of their sexuality. We have worked with the entire cohort of players and some external agencies to try to raise awareness of this issue, tell stories of people's lived experience, listen to that lived experience and get those stories out there. We hope that will encourage more people to come forward and tell their stories. Not everybody wants to do that. It is a great question. I am not sure exactly what the answer is.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

I posed the challenge because whether it is politics, business or other walks of life, on the female side of sports and in many other sporting codes, far more people have come out. Is there a cultural challenge?

Ms Anne Marie Hughes

We are doing work in that space. It is a cultural issue that has been around for a while. Sport has primarily been created by men for men. That is a history we are trying to overturn. We cannot do that unless it is a safer space for more people to get involved. That is the work behind the projects. We can have initiatives at grassroots level to introduce a good and welcoming environment, but it is also about building capacity with the volunteers who run the sport. We need training modules to improve education and evolve in that area.

Ms Ger McTavish

I refer to some of the work we have done with the LGBT community and our ambassadors, as well as our research and working groups.

We have seen a culture change and a societal change regarding openness and we are starting to see that through sports. We are starting to see role models come through. We ran a Let's Get Visible campaign under the auspices of Sport Ireland two years ago and we have seen some role models come out through that. Some of the questions that have been asked relate to dressing rooms, macho culture and so on. It is up to the individual in professional sports because it is quite hard to be put out there in front of media and to be challenged about one's sexuality. At each stage, supports need to be put in place for those individuals.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

Let me challenge that, in the context of macho culture. Even in her own submission, Ms McTavish makes it clear that it is much more challenging on the male side. I would argue that on the female side of Gaelic games, even at senior levels, that challenge does not exist to the same extent.

Ms Ger McTavish

Yes. In my own personal experience, as well as my experience of working in the organisations I have worked in, I have seen that openness to come out and be part of the association and to be visible. We are seeing a huge amount of work being done through BeLonG To and the Transgender Equality Network Ireland, TENI and through the Let's Get Visible campaign. If we continue to work on that and continue to change those cultural norms then maybe we can make society a better place.

Mr. Ger McDermott

From the League of Ireland or an elite perspective, the footballers identify as footballers first and foremost. In terms of initiatives, as the Senator rightly noted, we do a lot in the grassroots space to encourage participation and openness. From a League of Ireland perspective, we recently launched some specific and new campaigns around this. Most of that is around visibility, awareness raising, encouraging people to be open and ensuring that clubs create the right environment. That does not necessarily mean that a male player is going to come out and say that he is a gay footballer but what we are trying to do is ensure that the environment that players walk into every day is as open and as welcoming as possible, in the hope that one of those players, some day, will feel comfortable enough to speak about it and to tell their own story. I will ask Ms Rafferty to talk about the work we are doing around player welfare which relates very closely to this.

Ms Aoife Rafferty

For all of our international teams, particularly our underage teams, we have created a player welfare document. It is really important for the FAI to ensure that all players, whether male or female, have the opportunity to tell someone within the environment, that they all have someone to go to if they need to talk, whether it is about mental health issues, their sexuality or anything that relates to their welfare. Players know who to go to and what supports are available to them. That is really important for us. We have a zero-tolerance approach to any sort of discrimination, on or off the pitch. We are trying to create an environment that makes it safe for them and that is really important for the FAI.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

I want to talk about safe environments and about people feeling included. At any game, there is often singing at pitch side or in the dressing rooms. Our guests will be aware of recent controversies, whether over the Wolf Tone's "Celtic Symphony" or The Cranberries "Zombie". Sometimes I am surprised at how these issues arise but clearly questions have arisen in these circumstances.

How have the various organisations represented here responded to that? For the FAI, in the context of the women's team, it was a very live issue. It has come up now in the context of the Rugby World Cup. By the way, congratulations to the teams and I hope that they continue to do well. How are the organisations going to respond to those very specific cultural challenges?

Ms Aoife Rafferty

For the FAI it is about education for the grassroots clubs and the League of Ireland clubs. As part of our football social responsibilities, FSR, strategy, we have FSR officers across our League of Ireland clubs and it is about education. We need the clubs to understand their responsibility to ensure their clubs are a safe environment for everyone. The same is true for our grassroots clubs. We have great programmes around Football for All and are very inclusive in terms of the disability element. We just need to ensure that is widened out to make sure it is safe for everyone. We really believe that education and training is paramount in order to ensure that when anyone goes to a game across Ireland, he or she feels safe while watching it or while on the pitch.

Ms Anne Marie Hughes

I would concur with the point made about education and training. In the opening statement I mentioned the Charter for Irish Rugby which very clearly sets out a set of behaviours that we think are suitable and those that are unacceptable. It is about making sure that we are embedding that into the everyday behaviours of the clubs. We created a diversity and inclusion module just last season and more than 600 volunteers have taken it. It is about furthering that and making sure people have an understanding of language and sensitivities and that they know what diversity and inclusion actually is. Beyond that, it is about fostering an environment in which people can come forward and raise their concerns and we are open to responding to any of those concerns as they come to us.

Mr. Tom Ryan

Attending a football or hurling game at whatever level around the country, should be - and I hope is - a family-oriented, community-oriented, safe, friendly and welcoming experience. However, we do not take for granted for a second that this will always continue to be the case. We must mind, guard and protect that culture. When I say that we will learn from our colleague organisations, I mean that sincerely. I do not mean that we are any better than anybody else but some of the issues that have arisen in the context of Gaelic games would be individual incidents or involving individual people. I hope people will acknowledge that in the most recent, high-profile such incident, we acted swiftly and promptly to address it. We did that in the interests of making sure that our games continue to be safe, welcoming, family occasions. We are very open to learning from our colleagues in other sports. We are also very open to learning from this committee, from Sport Ireland and the Federation of Irish Sport about what we can do to ensure that welcoming environment continues to prevail.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

I come from Wexford and have a very clear understanding of the incredible role model that Lee Chin is, not just as a sports person. As somebody who works in the community, I applaud the GAA for the strong stance that it took in that instance.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Senator Fintan Warfield)

Senator Cassells is next.

Senator Shane Cassells

I welcome all of the representatives of our pillar sports, the Department, Sport Ireland the Federation of Irish Sport. I thank them for the work they do and for taking this opportunity to outline to the Oireachtas the work they are doing across society. This work is primarily at a volunteer-based level and that should not be forgotten. I congratulate them all on that.

Dr. May spoke about the issues faced by many of the minority sports in fulfilling the 40% gender quota on their boards by the end of the year. Obviously, this is having an impact on the pillar sports as well. I will start with Ms Rafferty, if I may. The issue is in the headlines in respect of the FAI. We read that nominations could not be secured, which has now led to the deferral of the AGM until December. The compromise seems to be an expansion of the board from 12 to 14. Why is that happening? Is the expansion of the board, even though the Minister of State has said he does not have a problem with it, a circumvention of the spirit of what we are trying to do, which is to reach the 40% gender quota? Did the FAI decide that as it cannot reach the target, it would just expand the board? Is that not circumventing the spirit of what is trying to be achieved here?

Ms Aoife Rafferty

No, I do not believe it is trying to circumvent anything. The FAI board is very clear about the target it has to meet by the end of the year. We are doing everything we can, in terms of the various processes we are putting in place, to ensure we have the appropriate 40% female representation at our board. We currently have four females members out of a total of 11 on the board, which is fantastic. We are working to ensure that all of our clubs across Ireland give the opportunity to females to put themselves forward. It is about providing support, mentorship, and pathways for females to put themselves forward. We are really clear that we want to increase female participation at all levels and will work really hard over the next few months to ensure that we meet that target by the end of the year.

Senator Shane Cassells

The GAA had a successful special congress a couple of weeks ago. There was a resounding endorsement of Mr. Ryan in the position of ard-stiúrthóir in terms of the 80% vote for what was required. Similarly, if I understand it, there will be an extension or expansion from 19 to 21 in the interim period. Can he outline the thought process behind that?

Mr. Tom Ryan

There were two or three principles we tried to bear in mind as we went through that process, one of which was respect for the people who were at that table already and respect for the democratic process that put them there. Each of the current board members or coiste bainistíochta, as we refer to it, is there to serve a term. The decision we took was rather than interrupt those terms or disadvantage any one particular person serving at the moment, we would allow people to see out their term while, at the same time, augmenting the board with female membership. The board will expand in 2024 and then contract over the subsequent two years. It is really just an exercise in expediency.

Senator Shane Cassells

I have a couple of questions for Mr. Ó Conaire in that respect. Dr. May spoke about hoping that smaller organisations will not be penalised. Is it the Department and Minister’s intention to still impose those cuts or will an allowance be made where if associations, especially in the minority level, are making stringent efforts to try to reach that gender, they will not receive those cuts, which could be very damaging in the case of many of the smaller sports?

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

The target has been set for end of year. As of June, the number of overall women at NGB and board level is at 39% on average, so it is increasing all the time. At this point in time, we will wait for the end-of-year figures. The Minister has been clear that there will be some funding implications for bodies that do not meet the target. That is where it stands at the moment. We will have to review the figures when we see them. I certainly do not want to pre-empt anything. We have been quite clear on what the target is and bodies have had it flagged to them for three or four years. We expect people to meet the target.

Senator Shane Cassells

Mr. Ó Conaire mentioned the sports capital grants earlier and the marking scheme in place. Additional points are given to clubs that demonstrate inclusion, especially in the area of gender balance and so forth. Is there a process in place for the Department to follow up on all clubs across all codes and get signed letters from them, especially from underage and female sides of the clubs, to ensure inclusion? Is there a follow-up process to ensure this happens? I have a big fear that many executives get the letters, bang them into the Department, look for the money but nothing actually will improve at all after the process when they get that facility. Is there a follow-up process in place to ensure that inclusion actually happens?

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

The latest round of the sports capital programme, as the Senator will be aware, opened in July and closed in September. There was a record number of applications, which are just starting to be assessed. As part of that process, it was made clear that applications will not be successful if applicants are not providing equal access to people of both genders. During the assessment process, all those applications will be looked at and there will be follow up as to the detail in each of them. I cannot comment on any specific applications. A huge number are in. The first initial tranche of inspection is happening at the moment, which is an assessment. It one of a number of criteria and the expectation is that they have to meet all the criteria to be successful.

Senator Shane Cassells

We see how failure to meet the gender quotas on boards will lead to funding cuts, but Mr. Ó Conaire also mentioned violence and race. The committee produced a report last year. Mary O’Connor worked very hard on it in respect of one proposal that she put forward, which was included in our report, relating to the penalisation of clubs in terms of access to State funding if guidelines surrounding violence towards match officials by supports or players were consistently breached. I have pressed this with the Department before in respect of the marking system for sports capital grants. Will that be taken on board by the Department?

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

The national code of conduct template that I mentioned earlier arose on foot of the number of incidents in the past number of years but also on foot of the work that Ms O’Connor and the committee put in. We assessed that report and this is one of the recommendations that came out of it. That is one step in implementing the actions that were proposed with regard to the incidents that had been occurring. Regarding assessment, there is a whole range of criteria. It is in the assessment process and people are aware of it. I would not like to say that particular clubs will be penalised because I am not sure of any instance of a particular club. However, there is the wider-----

Senator Shane Cassells

There have been some brutal ones and-----

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

I am aware. What I am saying is there is a wider expectation on the NGBs to sign up to the code of conduct. They already have the governance code. If they are not in compliance with that, they will have difficulty. The Senator mentioned the 40% threshold. If the NGB is not in compliance with that, it will have an impact on its clubs through the sports capital process. It is a natural follow on that all sporting bodies and, by extension, their clubs need to have processes in place to deal with these incidents in a proper manner. All of those things are taken in the round when assessing any application.

Senator Shane Cassells

All of the organisations have mentioned the work being done. Being parochial, I wish to give a shout out to some clubs. Navan rugby club was the first club to facilitate children with special needs and intellectual disabilities with a special team in the whole of the north east. I acknowledge that work. On the female side, our women’s coach is Jackie Shiels, the former Irish international player. I acknowledge the work that she does. Navan O’Mahonys has the Peil for All team, and Croke Park opened up its facilities for Peil for All as well. I also acknowledge Parkvilla FC and the FAI partnership through Meath sports ability and the programme the FAI runs there.

I thank witnesses for the report from Mr. Regan and the GAA. I refer to the one club model. How are things progressing in making sure the timelines are met?

Mr. Tom Ryan

Sorry, which timelines?

Senator Shane Cassells

The timelines of the integration process for all of the bodies coming under one umbrella.

Mr. Tom Ryan

As people will know, we are currently engaged in discussions with the Camogie Association and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association to arrive at what we think will be a better combined common future for the three organisations that currently govern Gaelic sports. There is not a specific timeline set out as yet. That is one of the things that, to be fair, we are being asked for. We are conscious of that need. The plan is that in early 2024 we will publish both a high-level view of what we think a combined organisation can and might look like between the three and also a roadmap and timeline. It is fair to say the issue is complicated. There are many things that when dipping into the detail will bear an amount of scrutiny and take a while to resolve. However, I am reassured by the fact there is a huge amount of goodwill on the part of the three organisations to make it happen. It is one of those things that - I will not say in how many, but in whatever number of years - we will look back and say, “Why was it not always like that?”

Senator Shane Cassells

I thank the witnesses for the document. The participation of older people was mentioned earlier. I wish to pay tribute to one man, namely, David Brady from Mayo, who did a lot of work during Covid in reaching out to members of the elderly community. There is a glaring omission in this booklet when it comes to older people in respect of the Dads & Lads part of the GAA. A national tournament was held two weeks ago in Abbotstown. There was a glaring omission in that book of a man from Navan O’Mahonys playing in the Dads & Lads. Anyway, we will let that go.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

I suggest we put that photo on the front cover of our report on this issue.

Senator Shane Cassells

I wish to ask a final question of the GAA and FAI. It was in the news that today that there was a successful UEFA championship bid yesterday for the UK and Ireland. I raised the development of Casement Park in the Seanad earlier. There is unfortunately already some negative voices from those in the Traditional Unionist Voice, TUV, and Northern Ireland soccer towards the redevelopment of Casement Park. I would hate to see something that is such a positive for this island turning into a negative. I support the cause of Mr. Justin McNulty MLA, who has called for a definitive statement on the funding of Casement Park so that it goes ahead. Where do the negotiations stand in securing the required funding from the UK and Irish Governments?

This is a crucial question. When will construction need to start on Casement Park to ensure it is ready?

Mr. Tom Ryan

The hope is we can start construction next year. On the question on negotiations and so on, I defer to my colleagues from the FAI. Suffice it to say, we are in detailed discussions with the people who will be in a position to make a call on that. We will do our best to make sure what is - the Senator is right - a positive story for sport in general on this island remains so. Unfortunately, it has taken ten years to get to this stage and there are another couple ahead in terms of Casement Park. That is because it has not always been perceived as a positive by everybody but our job is to make sure it is. I have no doubt Casement Park will be delivered and will play an exciting role in the forthcoming European Championship and for Gaelic games in Belfast. It is much needed for that.

Mr. Ger McDermott

It is critical to note the IFA’s involvement in the bid. Under our jurisdiction, we have our responsibilities. The IFA will be a key player in this as well. Any stadium infrastructure development is a positive. Once that happens on the island, we support it. On the finer detail, we would engage with the IFA first and foremost and will be part of those conversations.

Senator Shane Cassells

The IFA is coming under pressure from its amalgamated supporters association because that association sees it as a negative that money is going towards a GAA ground and is looking for money for its clubs separately. Could that throw a spanner in the works? It is also looking for Windsor Park still to be considered. I do not know how it could be since the UEFA bid has been confirmed. It states it could be expanded beyond its current 18,500 capacity.

Mr. Ger McDermott

I do not foresee any spanners in the works. What would happen in that case would be open dialogue between the IFA and its affiliates and supporters groups.

Senator Micheál Carrigy

I welcome everyone. I will first address the Department. The disability sports fund and EDI fund have been mentioned. What is the progress on them? Where are they at?

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

Under the dormant accounts programme, we launched a disability club fund last year of circa €2 million. Sport Ireland recently opened the application process. I think it closed last Friday; Dr. May might correct me on that. I understand assessment of applications will commence shortly, if not this week. We understand there was a strong demand. There will be an announcement before the end of the year as to the allocations under that fund.

Senator Micheál Carrigy

Is that the sports disability or the EDI fund?

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

The EDI fund is part of the dormant accounts. The sport disability fund is a particular aspect of it.

Senator Micheál Carrigy

In the Department's 2018 to 2027 plan, mention is made of organisations engaging in sport for all. Is there any organisation the Department feels is not engaging? If so, has any grant application been refused by the Department because of that?

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

I defer to Sport Ireland on this. We do not have day-to-day dealings with all the smaller bodies but the organisations here today - the larger NGBs - have outlined the programmes they have put in place in terms of sport for all. I am aware of others as well, such as hockey. My children participate in football for all. It has been a positive development. From interacting locally I see more clubs getting involved in that. There seems to be a growing awareness of the need for initiatives like this within the NGBs. I could not comment on all of them. Perhaps Dr. May wants to come in.

Dr. Una May

We do not record exactly what every NGB is doing but we have a broad range of programmes and initiatives run by a broad range of governing bodies. We have water sports inclusion games every year, which is all the water sports NGBs coming together to provide opportunities for people with disabilities or from disadvantaged communities. We have surfing programmes. Motorsport Ireland runs an annual event for people with vision impairments in Mondello Park in a safe, enclosed environment. We have multiple programmes, particularly through the local sports partnerships, whose role is broad around inclusion. They reach the key groups we wish to target. They host multisport inclusion summer camps and activity camps. The sports campus hosts multisport inclusive summer camps, for example. We reach a broad range. It would be difficult to identify a sport that has not some example of strong and inclusive programmes. We have chair volleyball. There are multiple opportunities out there.

Senator Micheál Carrigy

I am worried by one thing Dr. May said; her organisation does not record full details of every sporting organisation. I think it should.

Dr. Una May

It is not something I have figures on but we record the activities. As part of their annual report, every governing body reports to us on their activities so we have the information. We do not capture it specifically on this topic but we capture information about all the initiatives and programmes they are involved in, particularly under specific funds, dormant accounts being a good example that is targeted at all areas of inclusion. We have specific information around those but not every governing body is obliged to apply for dormant account funding. We monitor closely those who have applied for and obtained funding for programmes and initiatives but we do not force any NGB to apply for these. Sometimes it is down to the capacity of a governing body as to whether it would apply. That is where the local sports partnerships are key. They can reach into communities and groups that are difficult to reach by an NGB.

Senator Micheál Carrigy

It is important, even if an organisation does not apply for dormant accounts, to monitor that it is fully inclusive and doing the same as every other organisation. That is whether it is looking for money or not. I ask that this be looked at.

We have spoken about the gender gap. What are the barriers? What are the organisations telling the witnesses about the barriers to closing the gender gap to 40%?

Ms Aoife Rafferty

In general, across the FAI and our clubs at a local level, we have seen a huge increase in females getting involved at volunteer level and administrative level. We are looking to ensure the right supports are in place if they step up to board level. The game will improve if we continue to increase female participation. It is great when they work at local level in an administrative or volunteer capacity but it is a step up. We want to ensure the right supports are there so they understand what it takes to step up into a board and have the right expertise. We have seen an increase in female participation at local level and we want to ensure they have the right supports.

Senator Micheál Carrigy

In the other organisations, what is being said about the difficulties?

Dr. Una May

We have carried out research because one of the pillars of our women in sport programme is around leadership and governance. We have carried out comprehensive research and focus groups on individuals to identify the barriers. Those barriers are broad but include areas around opportunities, training, education and awareness. Sometimes it is about resistance. Visibility is a very important one. It follows on from Senator Cassells’s query about the broadening of boards to accommodate greater gender balance. It is a different solution but it increases the number of women on boards and provides an opportunity for women across the organisations to contribute. Sport Ireland has produced a gender balance on boards toolkit following on from our research in the area to ensure everyone has the tools at their beck and call to deliver on the targets we have set. In terms of accessibility and availability of experts when it comes to independent board members, the federation has done strong work in that area.

Ms Mary O'Connor

The challenge is getting women to come up through sports from grassroots. That takes confidence and time. The board recruitment database Dr. May referred to is full of females with different expertise. Recently we approached Sport Ireland with a project around board-readiness training aimed at females. We hope to roll that out shortly so women going on boards will have training and education on what to expect and how to interact as a board director.

The research conducted by Sport Ireland showed that. We look forward to rolling out the training and receiving feedback. We also look forward to rolling out the scheme to different national governing bodies.

Senator Micheál Carrigy

Ms O'Connor has mentioned the success of the 20x20 campaign several times, and how the campaign increased not just the number of participants but visibility on television and media. Does she think that the campaign needs to be introduced again to reach the original targets or even go further?

Ms Mary O'Connor

I thank the Senator for acknowledging our efforts. The campaign took place between 2018 and 2020 and was really successful. It is important for me to point out that the campaign was private because it was commercially resourced. The federation does not have the resources for the campaign. We ran the campaign on behalf of the company that developed the concept so, unfortunately, the campaign has its starting point and conclusion. Sport Ireland also did work around its HER Moves campaign. As a campaign, it definitely ignited an appetite among women and girls to get more involved in sport and made it fashionable, for want of a better phrase. We would love to reinvigorate a similar campaign because all boats were raised. It was not just one NGB trying to do the work but all of the NGBs and LSPs together, which is significant because it meant that the campaign reached a breadth of women in Ireland that had not been done by previous campaigns. The campaign also reached the male side of the house, which is important because we need everybody to come together. The campaign was a starting point. While there is great work being done at the moment I would like to see a similar campaign developed.

Senator Micheál Carrigy

The campaign has been a success. Does Mr. Ó Conaire think that the Department would fund a similar campaign for the next couple of years, rather than look to have it privately funded? I do not think the campaign should have been funded privately in the first place but it was successful..

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

All of our funding goes through Sport Ireland. As we do not fund campaigns or sports NGBs directly, the question is more appropriate for Sport Ireland and its board. As Ms O'Connor has referenced, Sport Ireland has a very good campaign this year called HER Moves, which specifically targets young girls and women in order to increase their participation in sport and enjoyment of sport. There is some work happening in that area presently.

Dr. Una May

The 20x20 campaign was a fantastic catalyst for the work that has been going on as part of Sport Ireland's initiative called women in sport. We have seen a significant increase in funding for the programme by the Department. It is important that we do not focus only on campaigns although we have run some and are currently in the process of the HER Moves campaign, which is a teenage girls physical activity campaign. We run the annual campaign called HER Outdoors. We conduct research to establish what the barriers are and the areas that are of interest to individuals and then run programmes along those lines. Last winter, we conducted a campaign called It's My Time, which specifically targeted older women to be active in sports. Their key barrier was a lack of time so we ran a campaign in that area.

Identifying campaigns is a really important means of generating awareness and creating that energy behind women in sport programmes. It is very important for us that we also then provide programmes and initiatives to back that up. The HER Moves campaign, in particular, has multiple programmes and initiatives rolled out across the entire country and across all the NGBs to support the campaign itself.

For visibility, we have carried out work around punditry training for women in sport to ensure that there are more women making inroads and being present as commentators, and visible in all sorts of areas. The programme was very heavily subscribed and we will run it again. The programme was extremely popular and has made a difference.

We are tackling the problem from many different angles. Although the 20x20 campaign was hugely successful and we are extremely grateful that the campaign created an awareness of women in sport, we are now trying to follow that on with implementation and actions that really will implement the outcomes of the energy that the campaign created.

Senator Micheál Carrigy

I thank our guests.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Senator Fintan Warfield)

The Senator is well over time. I suggest we have the second round of questions now and I will start by asking my questions.

Sport Ireland conducts research. My question will build on the questions about participation by members of the LGBT community that were asked by Senator Byrne. We know that queer women are more likely to take part in team sports and that queer men are more likely to play individual games. As Sporting Pride has mentioned, we rely very heavily on international research on this area. Do our guests agree that there is potential or scope for research to be conducted, in an Irish context, on participation in sport by members of the LGBT community?

Sporting Pride and some LGBT-inclusive clubs across the various sports have called for the provision of a specific stream of funding to encourage participation in sports by members of the LGBT community, which is similar to the age and opportunity fund and the people with disability fund. Has the provision of such funding been considered by Sport Ireland? Is there scope to provide funding for the participation in sports by members of the LGBT community?

There are two major LGBT sports tournaments around the world, in which I have partaken, and they are the Gay Games and EuroGames. It would be incredible to bring either of those tournaments to Ireland. How would that conversation start? Perhaps the Department can comment. I am certain that the tourism and sport sides of the Department would be interested in such an initiative and I suppose my question is linked to funding. Sporting Pride is an umbrella group for LGBT sports clubs. It is a voluntary organisation, so funding could be helpful. Perhaps one of the witnesses from the Department or Sport Ireland might wish to comment.

Dr. Una May

I am happy to start and will then pass over to the Department. In the development of our diversity and inclusion policy, we carried out research and specific focus groups, targeting particular representative bodies from the LGBT background. Ms McHugh will provide some detail around that work. All the different representative bodies identified the barriers to participation in sport for people from an LGBT background. We have spelled out this issue in our policy. Our actions stemming from that policy will provide support in this respect.

Regarding a funding stream, our policy has always been that funding for any of the initiatives we carry out is channelled into the sectors that we support directly, first and foremost through the national governing bodies and local sports partnerships. We do this because we want to ensure there is inclusion and that, instead of us a rolling out initiatives for specific groups individually, people from all different backgrounds are included in the sporting community, for example, people from disadvantaged groups, ethnic backgrounds and gender groups.

The tournaments issue is one for the Department, which is due to roll out a major events policy in the near future. Before I ask the Department to comment, though, I will ask Ms McHugh to explain our work in this area. We have been rolling out campaigns. For example, we are working closely with Sporting Pride on rolling out a partnership campaign on the campus for two weeks’ time. We have a number of initiatives under way.

Ms Helen McHugh

Regarding the research, as part of the development of the diversity and inclusion policy, we had specific communities that we wanted to target in order that we could hear about their lived experience of sport and physical activity, and the barriers they faced in that respect. We have received some good feedback from the LGBTI community in general. It is not disaggregated within the community, but we know that anxiety or fear about experiencing homophobia is a barrier. There are attitudinal barriers and the like. We have specific research, and we have taken specific insights from the community on board and are using as part of our work in that space. In terms of gay men, this ties a little into the question that Senator Byrne asked. The feedback is not disaggregated, but we know that there are different challenges facing different members of the community. This is something that we may look to dig into more.

In terms of our overall research approach, we have added a question on sexual orientation to the Irish sports monitor, so we are gathering some information in that space as well.

We added a specific module around inclusion into the Irish sports monitor last year to get insights from people in that regard. We do have data available to us that drive the decisions we make in that space.

I will just mention Sporting Pride and the #LetsGetVisible campaign. We work very closely with that organisation. There is somebody from Sporting Pride who sits on our advisory group and takes part in that. We have worked on the #LetsGetVisible campaign in partnership with Sporting Pride for the past three years, mostly delivered during Pride Month. It was kind of an online campaign but we are building on that this year. We are hosting an event on 21 October on campus where we are inviting all the LGBT sports clubs, LGBT people, their allies and the community in general to come out to the campus for the day. We have some panel discussions taking place and some physical activity happening afterwards. That is a specific body of work we are doing with Sporting Pride and we will look to build on that continuously and build on our relationship with Sporting Pride and the broader community.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Senator Fintan Warfield)

On the funding, does Dr. May not see merit in a specific stream for LGBT inclusion in sport, for the governing bodies, for the clubs themselves or for Sporting Pride?

Dr. Una May

The funding generally as regards areas of inclusion comes from the Dormant Accounts Fund. We have quite broad definitions that allow for that possibility for governing bodies. Clubs within a governing body would be very encouraged to apply. We encourage at all times collaboration between organisations, so the likes of Sporting Pride collaborate specifically with governing bodies if there is an area of interest. That would tie in with events and tournaments in the future. More specifically, we do not have a labelled programme or initiative but we have a diversity and inclusion fund, as part of our dormant accounts funding, which allows for the possibility of governing bodies, clubs and anybody within the remit of those governing bodies to apply for support.

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

I might just come in on the events question. As Dr. May mentioned, the Department is developing a major events policy, which will be ready in the coming months. Everybody sees the major events such as Euro 2028. This will encompass those but also smaller events and NGBs in particular would be having a look at that. This year, for instance, there were a number of successful events. There were the European under-23s swimming championships at the National Aquatic Centre. There was a EuroHockey event. We have a cyclo-cross world cup event coming up in November and the European cross-country athletics championships were held in Dublin at the end of 2021. There are a number of events like that, which are supported through the Department or through Sport Ireland.

What we want to see is a more developed policy to make things very clear. A lot of these are kind of ad hoc. Where particular NGBs want to host a championship, they will come and make a proposal. We want to set out a clear strategy as to how they will inform a particular process, whether they apply to Sport Ireland or to the Department and how that will be assessed etc. All of the major events that are supported are subject to a stringent cost-benefit analysis, economic impact and those sorts of assessments. With the development of a policy, it will be much clearer so the games the Senator mentioned would be quite welcome to put in an application. That can certainly be looked at. It might well be something that falls, as the Senator alluded to, on the tourism side because Fáilte Ireland does provide support for a certain number of initiatives as well, depending on tourist numbers or visitors that they bring to the country. There are a number of different mechanisms between sport and tourism to support events such as those.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Senator Fintan Warfield)

To take the example of a voluntary organisation like Sporting Pride, which has no paid staff, there is a difficulty around the energy that goes into making that pitch to Sport Ireland or the Department and the work that goes into that. That is one of the reasons I am asking about funding.

Football is a hostile place for LGBT people, for young men and boys in particular. As they become aware of their sexuality in teenage years, they probably fall away from the sport. Does Mr. McDermott think the FAI is doing enough in terms of engaging with the LGBT community? I know we had the Pride numbers on the international shirt a couple of years ago and there has been BeLonG To training in Abbotstown. There was also the SSE Airtricity initiative with the League of Ireland. Is there anything happening at grassroots level? Are there plans for more to happen? Would the FAI consider marching in regional Pride parades or Dublin Pride like the other governing bodies do?

What I see, and what I feel, is a lack of activity at grassroots level from the FAI when it comes to LGBT inclusion. My own football club the Dublin Devils has a partnership with Bohemians FC. It is great to see a League of Ireland club take the lead and show football can be a force for good. Jamie Farrelly, the club secretary of the Dublin Devils at the time, said he hoped the FAI would stand up and take notice because it had not been active on LGBT issues. There is a sense that there is minimal interaction between Sporting Pride and the LGBT-inclusive teams in association football. Does Mr. McDermott accept that? Does he think there is scope for more work to happen?

Mr. Ger McDermott

There is always scope for more work. I mentioned some of the initiatives but we have really tried in this regard, given the increase in attendances at League of Ireland games and the increased profile League of Ireland clubs are developing in their community, through the community officers and inclusion officers that clubs must now have in place. We have targeted League of Ireland clubs for now because we feel that will give us a very broad reach. We have over 1,100 clubs in the grassroots space. The Senator raises an interesting point because what we are trying to work really hard to do is make those clubs as inclusive and open and friendly as possible. It is a lot of clubs and there are a lot of people to educate and bring along with us.

The question of tournaments and specific competitions is an interesting one and I think we could engage with some of those groups in this space more to understand a bit more about what we can do. As I said, with 1,100-plus clubs, there are a lot of people to bring along and educate. Maybe there are other initiatives that we could take part in.

On initiatives like Pride and some of our clubs, the Senator mentioned Bohemians. Shelbourne FC has also been very proactive previously with Dublin Devils, which the Senator will be aware of. They are doing great work. In terms of visibility at any events like that, it is a straight "Yes" from us. We would be happy to be involved.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Senator Fintan Warfield)

Football is not homophobic, particularly grassroots football. The clubs just need the tools to be a more welcoming place and they need leadership from the top of the game as well. I welcome more involvement in grassroots football and involvement in the Pride parades around the country or Dublin Pride. I commend some of the League of Ireland grounds. I have seen homophobia called out on the terraces by stewards. We hear about homophobia over the tannoy systems now, or I certainly hear it in Inchicore.

Mr. Ger McDermott

Our title sponsor, SSE Airtricity, handed over the designated sponsorship space in League of Ireland grounds to promote the LGBT helpline. It has been really proactive and anything we have asked of it, it has helped us with.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Senator Fintan Warfield)

Is it bringing Mr. McDermott with it? We will take a second round of questions. I will go first to Deputy Andrews.

Deputy Chris Andrews

Given the success of the women's international football team in the World Cup, is Sport Ireland looking at increasing the funding to facilities for grassroots football? Not only would that benefit FAI grassroots football but it would benefit all sports. In my own constituency in Ringsend, I can see that when facilities are improved, multiple sports benefit. Is that something Sport Ireland is considering? There is a huge wave of support and demand for women's football. It has been mentioned regularly that facilities are a gap. If Sport Ireland were to look at increasing funding there, it would benefit all sports, not just women's football.

Dr. Una May

It is important to recognise that we do identify the need for facilities in order to encourage more female participation. Unfortunately, I do not have the pockets to manage this. It is the Department that has control over the sports capital fund.

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

The sports capital programme is demand led. In the last round, a record €166 million was allocated and €25 million of that went to the FAI, which was pretty much all of the eligible applications that came in.

In the last round, €166 million was allocated. Some €25 million of that went to the FAI, which was pretty much all of eligible applications that came in. What we have encouraged NGBs to do is to engage with their grassroots, their clubs, and get the applications in. If they do not get the applications in, they will not be allocated funding. The FAI read real progress in the last round. It was a significant jump from previous rounds in respect of their application and activating their grassroots. The assessment of the current round of applications is only just beginning so I can not comment as to what has come in on the football side but overall it looks like it is going to be another record number of applications. If the FAI, no more than other NGBs, can get their grassroots activated, the process is demand led and certainly that is how people are successful in these programmes.

Deputy Chris Andrews

The concern I have regarding the sports capital programme is that, as Senator Warfield was saying about the Dublin Devils FC, if the resources or the professionalism is not there within clubs, or a club does not own its own ground, it is at a big disadvantage. That may not be a matter for today but it is a gap in the sports capital programme and is something that needs to be addressed.

Deputy O'Sullivan mentioned Sport Ireland not being the regulator of sports. Where issues such as those with the gymnasts and Gymnastics Ireland occur, who is the regular? Who ensures there are consequences when events like that occur?

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

On the Deputy's first question, we are cognisant of the difficulties for some sporting bodies. There are different levels of expertise in the various NGBs but it is something we have been stressing in our meetings with them. There are very helpful guides on how to put in an application under sports capital and the team there are probably one of the few teams across the public sector whose contact details are available. They will take phone calls-----

Deputy Chris Andrews

They are very helpful.

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

-----around an application process and they engage with clubs and try to assist them to get the best possible application in. That is something we have been trying to address. We have addressed it to a certain extent and it has been quite successful in the past number of years. Dr. May mentioned earlier that Sport Ireland is not a regulatory body. There are two things here. If a crime has been committed in some way, shape or form, that is a matter for An Garda Síochána. If something of that nature happens where there needs to be a formal complaint made, it needs to be taken up and there is a legal route there. Sports Ireland is a sports development agency and the whole idea is to develop the sports sector. Dr. May could add a bit more to that but it is a question of what sort of incident we are talking about.

Deputy Chris Andrews

I refer to the issue around the young black gymnast.

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

In that incidence, they entered into a mediation process. The sports disputes resolution body, Sport Dispute Solutions Ireland, works through various organisations and the Federation of Irish Sport, and that process was used in that case. There was a mediation process between the family concerned and the particular person involved. That route is available to bodies when they have exhausted the options in their own organisations. First and foremost, if there is a difficulty within an NGB, you do it at your club level, you take it to the next level up whether that is county board, or provincial, or to the national governing body itself, and if that fails, there is this sports dispute resolution option. As I said, if the particular case involves something that is within the legal sphere, that is a matter for An Garda Síochána. If there was assault, etc., or if you wanted to go down that route, that option is available.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

I am very conscious that at the end of this process we will be producing a report on inclusion in sport. Our recommendations are in a sense how the State can help to enhance inclusion in sports. Obviously, each of the NGBs has its own way of doing it internally but this focuses on the ask from the State. Will Ms O'Connor, on behalf of the Federation of Irish Sport, and each of the NGBs, talk about what they think the State could best do to support their efforts to promote inclusion? In other words, what recommendation would they like to see in the report? Being conscious of time, I ask them to limit it to one recommendation. To show how effective it is - Senator Cassells acknowledged this - Ms O'Connor made a significant impact into our report around tackling abuse within sport and it formed a major part of that. If the representatives were to see one line of a recommendation included, what would that be?

I am always very conscious that when we talk about questions of inclusion, we often tend to highlight the incidences of exclusion. It is important to say and to acknowledge that there is tremendous work being done by all of the sporting organisations; not just those before the committee today, but indeed by many other national governing bodies. I even think of my own local cricket club, Gorey Cricket Club, which has done huge amounts of work. There are members not just from Ireland and other European countries but people from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, even people from Afghanistan who have been taking part and getting involved. Obviously, in a lot of those countries, cricket is not a sport; it is a religion. They are very actively involved. If the NGBs could illustrate some of our good case studies from local clubs or organisations which they think could be mainstreamed with State support as was mentioned earlier, it would be welcome.

I will begin with Ms O'Connor. She has been successful in influencing our reports before. What does she think the committee's top recommendations should be?

Ms Mary O'Connor

Following on from page 3 of the opening statement, I welcome the Senator's comment regarding the great work that has been done by the sector. That is welcome. Inclusion is a broad church and it is ever-evolving as well. It may be no surprise to the committee, but the first thing I would look at is funding because it can underpin the resourcing of policy becoming practice. That is the one thing to take away from today. We spoke about the 81 NGBs which are members of the Federation of Irish Sport and they vary in size. Some are totally volunteer-led in their work and as a consequence of that, they are not able to complete the inclusion options that some of the bigger NGBs are able to do. If we fund these organisations, it will help them to reach out to a larger audience. We must remember that our niche and emerging sports are very popular with people from multiple ethnicities. We must look at that as well and we need to broaden that view of inclusion. Funding is the key thing in order to underpin the policy becoming practice.

Deputy Niamh Smyth took the Chair.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

I ask the FAI for one recommendation.

Mr. Ger McDermott

Everybody is going to talk about funding.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

Maybe apart from funding, are there other recommendations? I think Mr. Ó Conaire has got that point.

Mr. Ger McDermott

It has been mentioned a few times but from our perspective, backing our facility development strategy for all codes and sports would be really important. It was mentioned already that we do an awful lot and with better and more inclusive accessible facilities, we can do more. In addition to that, I suggest there could be a Government-led, Government-backed or Government-funded education and capacity-building initiative for volunteers in clubs, perhaps through local authorities or other such bodies. Like most sports, we are all here because of the great work that thousands upon thousands of volunteers do. Most of what we are going to ask in terms of diversity, inclusion and being more accessible will come down to the volunteer at a very local level to actually deliver. I recommend looking at any way we can support them.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

Is this looking at it through the local sports partnerships?

Mr. Ger McDermott

Potentially, yes.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

Okay.

Ms Ger McTavish

Funding is a huge part but I recommend a focus on more accessibility and mobility. Then, implementing the UNCRPD and the hate crime legislation would help many of the NGBs as well. My last recommendation is for a dedicated person to support all these services and training.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

I am conscious of the point on recommendations. On the hate crime legislation that is currently in place and the action the GAA has taken, how does Ms McTavish think that may be able to help the GAA?

Ms Ger McTavish

It will help every NGB and society at large. I recommend anything that can give us more guidelines, guidance on language, guidance on how to respect and treat people and how to get rid of discrimination in any form in which it presents itself.

Senator Malcolm Byrne

I thank Ms McTavish. Those are a few one-line recommendations.

Ms Anne Marie Hughes

I think we have heard that it is multifaceted and we cannot have one without the other. We have put some funding into the equipment and the facilities but we also need to build capacity in the leaders and then we need to create that environment and put further training behind that.

I do not want to harp on about funding but it can be a challenge. The equality, diversion and inclusion grant from the Dormant Accounts Fund has been great to start some projects. Perhaps this could be looked at to build capacity in our organisations, not only for initiatives but also for staffing.

Best practice has been mentioned and I want to give an example. After the report on abuse of match officials was published, we decided how powerful it would be if organisations could work together and we started the Respect Our Games campaign. Its charter clearly sets out what is acceptable behaviour. We see clubs at grassroots level throughout the country getting right behind it. I can go to my GAA club, soccer club and rugby club in Gorey and the same messaging is there. This is very powerful. Everybody in the room believes in the power of sport to do good. Sending the same message at the same time to a large number of people should make an impact.

Senator Micheál Carrigy

Ms O'Connor mentioned a project in Badminton Ireland. For the past 18 months I have chaired the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism. In the report we issued, one of our main concerns was the lack of awareness in society in general and not only in sport. Is the badminton project something Ms O'Connor would like to see expanded to other codes in the Federation of Irish Sport? It makes things an awful lot easier for those on the autism spectrum when people understand it.

Ms Mary O'Connor

Absolutely. It goes back to having an opportunity to send the education message in all codes and not only in one particular sport. We now have a case study and it has been successful. It is about engaging with that particular NGB and spreading the message to other NGBs rather than duplicating the effort. Badminton Ireland would be absolutely open to that.

Senator Micheál Carrigy

One of the first things the autism committee pushed was that Leinster House, as a place of work of work and a place where thousands of people visit every year, would be autism friendly. This project is under way and I hope that by the end of the year we will have the highest accredited parliament in the world with regard to autism friendliness. This includes training all political members, political staff and Civil Service staff in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Another project is the Oireachtas Work Learning, OWL, programme involving young people with intellectual disabilities. Is this something that sporting bodies could look at? Are people with disabilities or intellectual disabilities employed in the organisations? We found that 85% of those on the autism spectrum are unemployed or underemployed. There are many schemes and services such as EmployAbility whereby organisations work to create employment opportunities. The OWL programme in the Oireachtas has been very successful. Eight participants in the programme last year now have full-time jobs in the Civil Service. Perhaps this is something the organisations might look at. Perhaps they are already doing something in this regard. I know the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media is involved in the project in the Oireachtas.

I welcome that the organisations work together on the Respect Our Games campaign. The way forward is everyone working together. No matter what code someone plays, we have the same message in every town and village in the country. I compliment the witnesses on this.

Senator Warfield mentioned something I did not know about. Is free advertising provided at the grounds?

Senator Fintan Warfield

No, it was an initiative by SSE Airtricity, which is the league sponsor, to dedicate its space at the grounds for the campaign.

Senator Micheál Carrigy

All grounds, whether rugby, FAI or GAA, could do something like this to get a message across throughout the country. The three organisations are here so it is the place to ask. It is a good initiative that could be rolled out throughout the country, similar to working together on Respect Our Games. There could be dedicated advertising space at all grounds.

Ms Anne Marie Hughes

I will pick up on the point with regard to work we have done on developing players with a disability. We want to move more players into volunteering and having other roles in the clubs. Recently we met several organisations to discuss employability. With regard to the joint messaging for Respect Our Games, clubs have a digital format they can use for printing and publicising in grounds and stadiums so that it is the first thing that people see when they come in.

Ms Ger McTavish

We are working with AsIAm on making the stadium autism friendly and with various clubs on the accessibility audit. We are looking at more projects. There is also EmployAbility and open door initiatives.

Deputy Chris Andrews

I have spoken to various people in the League of Ireland who have said the sports capital grant amounts are too small for their clubs to upgrade their facilities. We need a bigger large-scale infrastructural fund to develop stadiums. This is more an observation than a question.

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

A large-scale sport infrastructure fund was established in 2019. The first allocation was €88 million for 33 projects, including a number of League of Ireland projects. The double whammy of cost price inflation and the pandemic delayed many of them. We are only now seeing a number of them taking off. In August the Department wrote to all of the successful applicants asking them to apply for top-ups where there was a particular need. We are assessing these at present. There will be announcement on this shortly.

The Ministers are engaging on a new round of the large-scale sport infrastructure fund. We hope a new round will open in the coming years.

Deputy Chris Andrews

The sports capital grant is not really the vehicle to improve and develop stadiums.

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

It goes to a certain point. If a larger amount is required - I think it is over €400,000 or over €500,000, depending on the type of project-----

Deputy Chris Andrews

That is the problem for League of Ireland clubs. The large-scale sport infrastructure fund itself is quite small.

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

A number of projects have been earmarked for support. It will be open to the clubs to apply for future rounds.

An Cathaoirleach

Will Mr. Ó Conaire identify the monetary value of some of these big projects?

Mr. Micheál Ó Conaire

Some of the larger ones include the RDS and the Sportsground used by Connacht Rugby. There are also smaller projects. Recently in County Meath a linear walkway opened which was in the bracket of €1 million to €2 million. I do not have the exact figures with me. We can get them for the committee to give it an idea. It is larger projects of more than €500,000. There is no set cap but it depends on the size of the fund.

An Cathaoirleach

I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee. I apologise for not being present earlier. I intend to catch up on all of it afterwards. The secretariat members have taken copious notes. I thank the witnesses and my colleagues for being here. We will now go into private session.

The joint committee went into private session at 3.48 p.m., suspended at 3.55 p.m., resumed in private session at 4.08 p.m. and adjourned at 4.37 p.m. until 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 15 November 2023.