Mr. Philip Browne:

Some of this ground has already been covered. We will keep going. I will begin by dealing with concussion, which was raised by Deputy Fitzpatrick and a number of other speakers. We have a zero-tolerance position in cases of suspected concussion in the amateur game. If a player has a suspected concussion, he comes off and is banned from playing for two weeks. A player under the age of 18 is banned for three weeks. A person in these circumstances is required to get a certificate from a doctor before he can come back to play. Rugby is probably one of the leading sports in the world at the moment in relation to concussion because of the focus that has been on us in this regard. Education is the key issue. It is a matter of educating players, coaches, parents and doctors. There have been cases in which doctors have not been able to comply with the concussion regulations. We have invested heavily in a significant educational exercise throughout our club and school system. This is a zero-tolerance area as far as we are concerned.

The situation is slightly different in the professional game. Under the concussion protocols that apply in the professional game, the doctor and the medical team can withdraw a player for a head injury assessment in the event of a suspected concussion. In international games and in some professional provincial games, they have an opportunity as part of the assessment to look at replays of video footage to check what happened to the player, who is put through certain protocols. One of the misnomers in all of this is that people think the ten-minute head injury assessment is there to diagnose a concussion. That is not the case. The assessment establishes whether there is a suspected concussion. If there is a suspected concussion, the player does not go back on the park - he has to go through graded return-to-play protocols that are generally put in place via the neurologists we employ and our own team doctors. Concussion is an extremely serious issue for sport and in general. There is as much chance of a child getting a concussion while running down the school corridor as there is of him or her getting a concussion playing Gaelic football, hurling, rugby, soccer or any other sport in the park. I think the Department of Health needs to have a role in making people throughout the schools system aware of the dangers of concussion. People have started to gain a greater understanding of this issue in recent years. That is our position on concussion.

I was also asked about our policies regarding children with special needs. We have started a relationship with the Cara Centre. We are trying to find a short form of the game that would be suitable for children with special needs. That is an ongoing work in progress. As rugby is a contact sport, we have to find non-contact forms of the sport to allow children with special needs to participate in it. We are very supportive of that.

I would like to respond to the questions that were asked about mental health issues, child protection measures and the win-at-all-costs mentality. The IRFU set up a committee approximately 18 months ago to run its spirit programme, which tries to communicate the specific values of rugby and sport. The spirit committee has rolled out educational programmes to support the mental health of our players within the club game and to ensure everyone understands what is required from a child protection perspective. We have a full-time welfare officer who goes to schools and clubs to educate our administrators on all aspects of child protection. Obviously, we follow the child protection guidelines that are in place. The spirit committee has worked with Pieta House to roll out the "mind your buddy" mental health programme, which provides supports for players, coaches and volunteers within clubs, makes them aware of mental health issues and helps them to recognise such issues as they arise.