Ms Mary O'Connor:

I thank the committee for inviting us. We are delighted to attend. We are here in our capacity as representatives of Irish sport. There are 70 national governing bodies of sport which are members of the federation along with 28 local sport partnerships, or LSPs. We were asked here today to speak about minority sport, but we do not believe there is such a thing in Ireland. We were asked to outline the benefit all sport and physical activity and the NGBs and LSPs which contribute to modern Ireland's vibrant and diverse sporting culture. Sport and physical activity is proven to stimulate volunteerism and promote diversity and inclusion. We are lucky in Ireland to be represented around the world by some world-class sporting ambassadors. To produce these sporting stars, we must invest in young talent, coach education and systems or pathways which allow them to maximise their potential.

At this stage, Irish Sport believes we need the following things. We need investment in our sporting organisations to allow them to maximise commercial and other revenue-generating activities and deal with the increased regulatory challenges such as the GDPR and child protection. Members may be surprised to know that up to 15% of the funds allocated to many of our national governing bodies are consumed by the cost of complying with the various regulatory requirements even before any funds are put into the sport itself. If we want to increase participation, international research has repeatedly found that it is people, programmes and targeted marketing and communications that make the real difference and not just facilities. I ask members to think of how the awareness of rugby, for example, is assisted by the significant investment from Vodafone or indeed about the change in perception of ladies Gaelic football since Lidl became a partner. We have a vibrant sporting community but we do need assistance to promote the sporting opportunities that are available - never mind to develop new ones.

On sports capital, funding for sport is always welcomed by our members but funding for facilities should not be at the expense of current funding and support for people and programmes. The investment should be strategic. Why continue to invest in individual projects nationwide in the absence of an audit of the facilities we already have? Our members would like to see better regional multi-sport facilities. We would ask that VAT exemption be extended to sporting equipment, particularly equipment for people with disabilities such as hand cycles and sports wheelchairs. We would like to encourage private giving and philanthropy to sporting bodies by bringing in the similar tax exemptions available through giving to other sectors such as art and education. We believe the public good delivered by sport is more than comparable.

Meaningful investment in sport by Government only began in 1989, which is nearly 30 years. We are 25 years behind the UK and some 20 years behind Australia. Now is the time to embrace the learnings from those 30 years so that we ensure that in 30 years' time, sport is delivering even more for Ireland and her people. To conclude, I know that the members of the committee are well aware of the huge contribution that sport can make to so many areas of Irish life: improving the nation's health, reducing anti-social behaviour, bringing communities together and, of course, boosting our national pride when our sporting heroes represent us with distinction. In the context of the overall budget available to Government, the ask is not very large but the effect of a substantial increase in funding, such as the doubling over seven years which the Taoiseach set out as an aspiration last year, would be immense.