Mr. John Delaney:

I thank the Chairman for his remarks. We have had better mornings to make presentations, but we are here anyway.

I wish to thank members of the joint committee very much for giving the FAI this opportunity to discuss the topic of sports sponsorship by drinks companies. Funding of sport is a very important issue for everyone in the country, particularly in the current downturn. Given the numbers that sport affects and the benefits it brings to so many - not just in health and tourism, but also in building communities - it is vitally important that these issues are considered carefully by our political representatives.

When most people consider sporting organisations like the FAI, they naturally tend to focus on the international team, as the Chairman pointed out a moment ago. Underneath, however, there is so much more. The FAI runs 24 community-based programmes through a 100-strong team in its technical department, with development officers on the ground, covering every county in the country. There are 2,600 clubs and 450,000 participants.

The work they do includes really important programmes that many will be aware of. Over and above coach education, player development, women's football programmes, referee education and work with clubs and leagues that one would expect, we also operate other large programmes in schools and third-level institutions. In addition, the FAI has an intercultural programme that uses football to assist with integration for the sizable number of new visitors to our country, volunteer education, child welfare programmes and football for all programmes with 13 nationally recognised disability groups.

We also run a significant number of community-based programmes in the area of social inclusion, which use football as a tool to tackle important social issues such as youth unemployment, helping young offenders and combatting anti­social behaviour - primarily, underage drinking. One of these is our late-night leagues, which is run in co-operation with the Garda Síochána across 21 centres. The programme takes place during prime anti-social hours from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., when young people could cite boredom as a reason for drinking or smoking, often leading to anti-social behaviour.

Making football available free and convenient to these areas late in the evening, offers a chance to engage in a healthier lifestyle option, as well as developing a positive, informal dialogue with local gardaí.

Garda statistics have shown that, in 2010, while holding our local late night leagues, anti-social calls to the local Garda station were reduced by 52% in Tallaght west and 49% in Ballymun. Garda research in 2011 illustrated that on average across Dublin, in sub-divisions that held late night leagues there was a 26% reduction in anti-social behaviour related calls to these stations versus sub-divisions that did not hold late night leagues.

Government funding for sport covers some of these activities but that is being reduced year on year due to the prevailing economic environment. In 2008, the FAI's funding through the Irish Sports Council accounted for €4.35 million but that has been reduced and now accounts for €2.84 million, a reduction of 35%. As a result, the Irish Sports Council's funding now equates to 17% of our operating income meaning that we, as an organisation, rely more on sponsorship and commercial agreements than we did in the past.

As a sporting body which is not deemed to be a business by the Revenue Commissioners, the association is therefore not VAT-registered, so the increase in VAT from 21% to 23% during the same period has had a negative impact, increasing our costs by approximately €600,000 since the change was introduced.

In addition, the association has reduced ticket prices significantly during the last five years to respond to the economic environment, which has seen a decline in average ticket prices from the high €40 range to the mid €20 range.

The potential imposition of higher rates charges on the Aviva Stadium would result in further money being taken away from the development of community-based football programmes, if it were to go ahead.

The proposal to cut sponsorship would have a direct, negative impact on our ability to run these programmes, all of which contribute directly to keeping young people active, healthy and away from the temptations of substance abuse, including alcohol abuse. Last year, 105,000 children went through our social integration programmes. From that simple perspective, the proposal does not make sense. Decisions must be based on sound, factual evidence.

While the proposals which were put forward in the February 2012 steering group report are numerous and must be considered carefully, there is no evidence to show that its proposed ban on sports sponsorship would be effective in reducing alcohol consumption among the youth. Certainly, in France, one of the few countries to have taken such action, that has not been the case. To take such action without evidence means cuts to programmes. Sponsorship is much harder to come by than some would have us believe and a restriction on sponsorship by drinks companies would not be compensated for by alternative categories. As our diverse sponsorship portfolio shows, we would already be working with alternatives if they were out there. As political leaders, committee members must consider the unintended consequences of any decision they make. Besides jeopardising the very programmes which are beneficial to keeping people active and away from substance abuse, a ban would have a negative impact on our ability to bid for tournaments such as Euro 2020 which have the potential to provide a major boost to the national economy.

In reality, alcohol sponsorship is already well regulated. Diageo, with which we work, takes a very responsible approach. The FAI has also developed an action plan through which we believe we can engage even more with the relevant authorities to tackle the issue of alcohol consumption in a meaningful way. The number of people who play our sport mean that we are very well positioned to do so and I urge the committee and the Government to continue to work with us to achieve real and meaningful results. To do otherwise and impose a sponsorship ban will have an inevitably negative impact on our ability to deliver our programmes, which are so beneficial to communities across the country and Irish society as a whole.

In summary, national governing bodies, like the FAI, work hard to bring the benefits of sport to society within a funding model which is severely affected by the prevailing economic and market environment. Support from our sponsors ensures we can maintain and grow our sporting, community, fitness and health-related activities which are proven to be beneficial to society. We urge that the positive contribution by national governing bodies in these areas not be restricted by limiting funding from existing sponsors. Work to address societal issues like obesity and alcohol abuse can be enhanced significantly by supporting the work of associations such as the FAI in aggressively promoting sport, particularly in schools, to promote healthy lifestyles among the young.