Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses who have spoken on behalf of the three powerhouses of sport in Ireland on a national or an inter-county basis. One cannot but praise these organisations. Trying to be critical might be impossible but I am sure we will find issues as we go along. One of the issues might be governance. Recently, the Minister of State with responsibility for sport spoke about gender quotas and the witnesses have touched on the approach they are taking. The Minister of State has set a timeframe, albeit in contradiction to his senior Minister. Will the witnesses' organisations need to set their own targets? They may only have three years to get this in place. Are we rushing it too much? Even the ladies themselves feel they need time to fit into place. Can we have a comment on the issue of gender balance and whether we are going in the right direction? In fairness to the three organisations, they are well able to raise money on their own separate to State funding, but there is no point in rushing this too fast.

A very interesting comment was made on the availability of players. Historically, one remembers players depending on the background and tier of the sport they played, even in colleges. Even last week in my own county, Christian Brothers College from Cork city was playing my own alma mater, St. Colman's College, Fermoy, in the quarter finals of the Dr. Harty Cup, which is a major thing. At one time, one would not see a rugby ball inside the gate. Are we putting fierce demands on juveniles growing up who now have to play in more codes? One saw lately that one of the good rugby players was well known in three codes and eventually had to make a call on one. Should they make the call sooner for the sake of their own health and fitness? It is a big thing. Parishes are under pressure. Mr. Duffy mentioned that people are migrating to the bigger hubs and cities and one sees team amalgamations. I am concerned about player availability and whether we are asking too much in having them play four or five codes when they are in college. Perhaps we should draw a line and set out recommendations in respect of an earlier stage so that they can focus on the code at which they are best. That may be another day's talk.

Is Mr. John Delaney happy with FIFA's decision to increase the number of teams that can qualify for the World Cup? Does that dilute the quality of the eventual finals? More importantly, what can the FAI do to promote the League of Ireland? In fairness to our national networks, the FAI has good coverage, but it is always good to see a crowd at a match. I am not saying I am a great attender myself, but what can we do to get more people onto stands and terraces?

Mr. Browne is on a big road having regard to bringing the Rugby World Cup to Ireland. I wish him all the best in that. The IRFU is making steady progress on the issue.

I have asked Mr. Browne previously whether he is happy with the co-operation he receiving from various Departments in the provision of facilities. Lately, we had the unfortunate news that the venue in the birthplace of the GAA, Thurles, would not be considered for use in the Rugby World Cup, which I find alarming. I am not stating it should be used as a host venue, but 50,000 people could get into and out of that little town in one day.