Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To be fair, the number of women on boards overall, which we will publish, has increased substantially and more and more sports organisations are coming into compliance with this Government policy. By the way, it is government policy in many other countries as well. We are not the only ones. It also applies to political parties as regards candidate selection. It is a pretty similar arrangement. There are a number of sports bodies that will not have it done for January but, if their clubs get an equipment grant awarded - we hope to announce these grants in January - they will only be able to get 50% of what is awarded while women do not make up 40% of the board. It can be fixed. It is not a one-time punishment and then you are gone forever. When the issue is rectified, the clubs can come back. It is not designed to be a punishment.