Mr. John Delaney:

I thank the Chairman, Deputy Brendan Griffin, and the members of the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport for this opportunity to meet with them and to take part in this discussion on sport in Ireland.

With regard to governance, the FAI will celebrate its centenary in 2021. It is one of the largest sporting organisations in the country, representing an estimated 450,000 players and participants across Ireland in 2,600 clubs, making football the biggest team participation sport in the country.

Our organisation is run through a democratic governance structure, which is outlined in the FAI rule book.

The FAI is affiliated to UEFA and FIFA and must comply with any rules and regulations imposed by those bodies. Our national structure can best be split into three sections: the FAI council, board of management and the standing national committees, and the FAI administration staff. The FAI council is made up of 58 members from across the Irish football family. The council meets at least quarterly when it receives updates and passes major decisions and rule changes. The board of management of the FAI has ten members and all voluntary members are elected. They oversee the strategic direction of the organisation and the implementation of strategy. The board is made up of honorary officers, chairpersons of various standing committees and me, as CEO. The president and vice president sit for fixed terms of four years and chairpersons of each committee are elected every two years. In the year ahead we will welcome our first board representative from women's football, which has now come under the umbrella of the FAI.

Key sub-committees within the association are the governance and risk committees. The FAI executive structure reports directly to me, and I report its activities and actions to the board during monthly board meetings. The FAI holds its annual general meeting, AGM, in July each year. The reports of the CEO, financial director, honorary treasurer, audit committee and standing committees are presented to members and the media at this meeting.

In terms of gender quotas, the FAI has two women on the national council. Women are also represented on the national finance, legal and corporate, international and under-age committees. The chairperson of the audit committee, as well as the heads of the legal and HR departments and the business partnerships director are women, and we have female representation at UEFA committee level. The women’s teams played 43 international matches last year. The role of women in Irish football is growing all the time and increasing female participation in the game is key to the strategic plan for 2016 to 2020 and the women's strategic plan 2015 to 2018, both of which we have submitted to the joint committee. The more women and girls who are involved in football, the stronger the game becomes.

In terms of funding and the sports capital programme, grassroots funding through Sport Ireland and many local authorities allows us to have a national spread of 54 development officers, implementing grassroots programmes across all communities including: summer soccer schools which had 31,500 participants; Football for All, which involves 34 clubs; Soccer Sisters, involving the participation of 3,600 and; the FAI primary schools five-a-side competitions with 24,000 participants of which approximately 40% of participants were female. Government funding through the sports capital programme allows for the development of vital football facilities locally and nationally. Funding is currently being sought for a number of important projects, including Dalymount Park, the Munster centre of excellence at Glanmire and an indoor pitch at the National Sports Campus. All funding is vital to the lifeblood of the grassroots of the game which underpins the base of the pyramid structure right up to elite level. It is at this broad base where the delivery of resources is funnelled directly, and we are extremely grateful for all support through Sports Ireland funding under Kieran Mulvey, John Treacy and the board of Sport Ireland and we continue to invest heavily in the game ourselves.

While it is important, Government funding only accounts for a fraction of overall expenditure and for every €1 of the €2.7 million invested by the Department and Sport Ireland we invest €3 of our own money, which amounts to approximately €8 million. To put it in another context, funding contributes approximately 6% of annual turnover. Continued funding and our commitment to invest in the game will directly affect the improved well-being, fitness and health of players at all levels, and allow us to develop the game at grassroots level through three key vital cogs, namely, people, programmes and infrastructure. While funding is fundamental to the development of the sport and we could always do with more, I emphasise the need for funding to be consistent, including during recessionary times, where it has previously declined.

In terms of challenges and strategies, our overall challenge is to achieve the strategic goals. The FAI's strategic plan 2016 to 2020 and the women's strategic plan from 2015 to 2018 are the roadmap to deliver improvements across the game for players, clubs, leagues across grassroots and communities for the continued growth and prosperity of the game at every level. The development of football in every town and village in Ireland is to the benefit of all communities. The various challenges we face include: continual growth of participation numbers across areas of the game; increasing the number of people working across administration, volunteerism and coaching; the effective delivery of consistent coaching methods through the player development plan to ensure the very best and most appropriate coach delivery to all; changing the mindset of the win-at-all-costs mentality and changing philosophies for children where every child gets game time and is included; recognition of the value of a team sport which has additional benefits in developing life skills and competencies, due to the nature of teamwork, discipline, shared goals and co-operation, which are required to participate in a team environment; the use of football as a social inclusion tool is a priority for many stakeholders and a balancing act for the association to ensure successful football development for all, including Walking Football initiatives, programmes for those with disabilities including Football for All and those marginalised by society, those who suffer from addictions through our Kick Start to Recovery programme, run in conjunction with the HSE, and other socially-disadvantaged groups through our late night leagues, drop-ins and street football; and safeguarding, in the areas of child welfare, anti-doping and addiction support, in order to provide a safe environment for all.

I hope that gives some insight into the work we do and the ambitions we want to achieve for Irish football. I thank the committee for the opportunity to speak to members and for the funding we receive.