Mr. Paul McDermott:

We are very happy to work with Paralympics Ireland and we have an excellent working relationship. As Mr. Treacy said, the important thing is that from the very outset of our high performance programmes, Paralympics Ireland was given complete parity. For example, at the announcement this morning, we had a number of Paralympic athletes there who were funded under the international carding scheme. Badminton Ireland is here today and we are delighted that it has an opportunity to bring para-badminton to Tokyo. There are some excellent young athletes and we were delighted to meet them today. From our point of view, we are at the stage where we do not think about it. Our Paralympians are treated the same as our Olympians. The programmes are hugely successful in terms of swimming, cycling, and track and field, which is particularly excellent in the throw and with Mr. Michael McKillop. We are delighted with that and we are working with Badminton Ireland and the other sports to expand it.

In Ireland, we take a certain amount of pride in the fact that our Paralympic athletes and our Paralympic team are given a status and that equity both in terms of the media and with the public. That is something which is hugely important and in which we take pride. Our high performance programme is completely integrated and just part of how we think about how we do our business in the Sports Ireland Institute and in every single programme. We are very happy to do that and, hopefully, they will continue to be successful in Tokyo. However, it is high performance, so we also make sure that the rigor remains. They have always continued to deliver. As the committee will be aware, a major event in the National Aquatic Centre this summer will be the European para-swimming championships. That is a big event for Paralympics Ireland to host. It is a big challenge for it and we are delighted that it will be on the national sports campus.