Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Doyle brought up the point of food consumption. Rowers have to take in many calories every day and the cost of that alone is enormous. Some sports require larger calorie intakes than others and I presume Sport Ireland does not take account of that. The grant is literally a one-size-fits-all operation. Sport Ireland will be in front of the committee but the budget planning is also ongoing and I know everyone is in agreement with the proposals that when one is excelling, one should get more and there should be a bonus payment. We would like Rowing Ireland to write to us after this meeting outlining what it is asking for, especially in light of the fact there is such a gap of over half a year between becoming eligible for funding and the cheque coming in the post. That is when performance will dip because if one has to go back to work's performance will decrease as a result of not being able to train full-time.