Mr. John Treacy:

By and large, the criteria will outline to the young golfer whether they should apply. They should have won a major, be recommended by the governing body of sport or have accumulated points. We have to be careful because we do not want young golfers turning professional too early. If they do it at the appropriate age, the golf trust kicks in.

In the past the Irish Sports Council administered that but in the past year that transferred to the Golfing Union of Ireland, GUI, because we are clear that the people who know the sport best are those in the governing bodies of sport. We have a council representative who sits on that committee, and it allocates the money to the aspiring professionals. It is a good initiative, with the Golfing Union of Ireland taking responsibility. Similar to what is happening on our carding around athletics and swimming, it is allocating funding directly to those athletes. We will transfer more responsibility to the governing bodies of sport when they are ready to take that responsibility. The GUI is a well-run organisation, and it is ready now for that responsibility.

Without that €20,000, and I have heard this from people like Peter Lawrie, a person would not be able to turn professional because it meets their expenses when they go on tour. It might cover the cost of flights or hotels. When they try to turn professional and they are on the challenge tour or whatever they are on, it is a difficult journey but that funding goes a long way.

Similarly, we have supported women who have turned professional, and there is even less money for them. I have met international golfers from other countries and they were singing the praises of the Irish Sports Council for putting like that in place for young female golfers.

There is a lot done but more to do. I agree with the Deputy that this is a sport in which we can excel on the world stage, and we have excelled. We must make sure that we continue that and that we have the assistance in place to support aspiring golfers who have the talent to perform on the world stage. We must make sure that nothing gets in their way.