Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. This committee agreed before Christmas to invite them in. The main issue at that time was the lack of consultation before the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy O'Donovan, made his announcement on gender quotas and governance in the various sporting organisations. Since then, the organisations have had consultations with the Department.

Mr. Delaney said that his organisation has a democratic governance structure. We are all democratically-elected Members of the Houses but we had gender quotas imposed on us in advance of the most recent general election. I was not in favour of that, I must say. I do not think it is the way to make progress. That said, there is no doubt that we should be encouraging more female participation in politics and in sport, particularly in the governance structures of various sporting bodies.

The board of management of the FAI is the premier governing body of the organisation. It appears that only one person on the board of management is female. That signifies a very poor representation of women in the governance structures of the FAI. Mr. Delaney made reference to an FAI report on increasing women's participation. If there was no threat of a gender quota being imposed, what exactly are the FAI's targets, goals and policies in terms of ensuring greater female participation in the governance structures of the organisation? Deputy Catherine Murphy mentioned the Genesis report and pointed out that some of its key findings still remain to be implemented. In that context, can we be confident that any policies of the FAI relating to increasing female participation will be fully implemented?

Reference was also made to the FAI's AGM. I remember when the organisation came to Athlone, under the stewardship of its former president, Mr. Paddy McCaul. It was very welcome then and would be most welcome to come again. On that day, we travelled around Westmeath with representatives of the FAI and saw the unbelievable good work it is doing, especially in areas of high deprivation. The FAI does great work in promoting participation in sport. Many previous speakers have outlined the benefits to society of participation in sport, in terms of improving health and well being and I must acknowledge the role played by the FAI in that regard.

What percentage of the FAI's overall annual budget is derived from direct State funding? Sometimes the State can try to take a heavy-handed approach to organisations that it does not fund adequately.

I also have a question about something that seems, unfortunately, to be increasingly prevalent in our communities, namely, sudden adult death syndrome, SADS. Some of it is linked to over-exertion from a sporting perspective. I am not saying it is all related to that but it is certainly a factor. What is the FAI doing in terms of screening, not just at the higher level but also at club level, to prevent incidents of SADS?

Finally, on big sporting occasions such as All-Ireland final day or the occasion of major international rugby or soccer matches, the people who have given most in a voluntary capacity cannot get tickets to attend. Earlier this week, we heard that tickets for a forthcoming U2 concert have been resold at multiples of their face value. What is the FAI doing to ensure the elimination of ticket touting?