Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I endorse the welcome from my colleagues. I have a bit of an inside track as I have been a sports journalist for most of my working life. I have been at an Olympics, and I saw John Treacy at the 1980 games. That resonated yesterday with the passing of Mr. Tim O'Connor, a former head of television sport who was very instrumental in getting RTE to focus on many sports during his period there. God rest him. As a former voluntary coach in the community games, I am intimately knowledgeable of the sacrifices that people make at all ages and levels, and I do not want my remarks to in any way be disrespectful to those who have tried and continue to strive for greatness.

Nevertheless, I share Senator Coghlan's view and Mr. Hickey put that in context. Irish people want to see medals and flags and they do not really care from what sport that comes. People would see me, Mr. Treacy and others identified with sport and we might attract comments that the athletics level of performance at the Olympics left much to be desired. I do not know why that is because it receives massive funding and support. There seems to be something inherently wrong, so is it related to a lack of proper coaching? I am asking the question because I do not know the answer.

There is commentary suggesting that because of our small size and limited resources, we are punching way above our weight in so-called minority sports. Mr. Hickey comes from a judo background and he quite rightly noted the outstanding achievement of that young girl in the sport. I remember covering the sport at the Olympics when I worked in the area and along with the modern pentathlon it was a minority sport. People brought an amount of commitment, energy and enthusiasm to the sport even before these achievements. Is there a case to be made for the Irish Sports Council and the Olympic Council of Ireland rebalancing and refocusing their view, giving more support to the so-called minority sports? We can break down where we won and made other achievements while stripping the gloss from the process; the witnesses are coming here to put the best possible spin on the Olympic achievements. Senator Coghlan indicated we should "strip it down" and it is clear that it is primarily in minority sports that we have seen success and are achieving world standards. We are not doing it in track and field.

Do the witnesses believe there is a need to rebalance and focus more on the minority sports where we seem to be getting a greater return? The excitement was not just about Katie Taylor and I will always remember the achievement of Annalise Murphy. It symbolised the potential of a small country in a minority sport and it captured the spirit of the Olympics. I knew nothing about sailing and most people watching did not know about it either. That was an extraordinary television experience.

I also want to ask about boxing. It seems unacceptable that one of the best boxing coaches in the world did not have a contract with his own governing body. Is his future still uncertain or has the matter been resolved? There are recommendations in the debriefing arguing that there seems to be allegations of interference. For example, the review indicates that staff appointed to the high performance programme, HPP, are engaged by, accountable and report to the performance director, and this process is not subject to interference or overrule by Irish Amateur Boxing Association, IABA, members or committees. That is an extraordinary indictment of the IABA administration as this is one of our most successful sports in our Olympic participation and yet that line must go into a debriefing report. I would be grateful for the comments of the witnesses in that regard and if it has not been sorted, is there a role for them in getting it sorted so that we do not have uncertainty surrounding the achievement of the boxers, which has continued in the recent European championships?

Mr. Treacy made a point about co-operation between North and South. How long will the position continue of the Northern Ireland Sports Council providing high-performance money along with the body from the Republic of Ireland? The maximum is the same, at €40,000, for both areas but an athlete based in the North can get €80,000 but one based in the South only gets €40,000. That is unfair so is there a way of sorting it out?