Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I come from Kilkenny and I could not let the morning pass without speaking about the remarkable athlete, Darren O'Neill. He comes from a club I have watched grow over the years and although I do not want to put a dampener on things, it has achieved its heights by default rather than design. I want to know that we are really supporting all these boxing clubs throughout Ireland. They have a social inclusion policy and there is a large number of teenage girls in the club in Paulstown, County Kilkenny. It does marvellous work and I am sure there must be much talent there for future Olympic Games; if we are spotting talent, I invite anybody to see what we have.

How high on the agenda is social inclusion policy or is it just a paper exercise for many clubs in order to draw grant assistance? How is the effectiveness of the local sports partnerships measured? Are they really achieving what they were set up to do?