Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has confused a couple of issues. The first issue, the timeframe on governance, has been set out and all of the national governing bodies are fine with it. They know that they must move from a voluntary to a mandatory code of governance and this is being done to protect them as much as to protect taxpayers. When I was a member of the Committee of Public Accounts, governance was an issue that arose constantly in reports from the Comptroller and Auditor General. Departments are often criticised for engaging with external bodies that have voluntary codes of governance. The decision to move from voluntary to mandatory codes was made in advance of the Olympics and does not only relate to governance.

On women in sport, 17 national governing bodies do not have any women members, seven have more than 90% male members, 20 have more than 80% male members, five have 70% or more male members and 14 barely meet gender balance requirements if these are based on the global norm of having approximately 30% female members.

The Minister referred to female participation in sport. There is no doubt that we have a problem with the perception of sport among women and access to sport for women. While a figure of 45% participation in sport among women is grand, it is not good enough and must be increased. One of the ways to achieve this is to have role models both on and off the field. This issue has arisen in other jurisdictions where it has provoked considerable debate. It is important to note that in the immediate aftermath of the public commentary on this issue in December last, research carried out by a reputable company was provided to Sport Ireland which found that 60% of respondents believed it was time action was taken on women's participation in sport and agreed with the idea of moving in the direction we had proposed.