Mr. John Treacy:

The Government provided €15 million that is to be allocated to clubs around the country as part of the resilience fund. The funding will be allocated through the governing bodies of sport, which will apply for their clubs as they are in regular contact with them. It is very welcome. It is current funding that the clubs can invest, keeping in mind the protocols they need to put in place. The funding is vital to them.

As the Deputy stated, the clubs are doing Trojan work. During the pandemic, their members were out helping the elderly and always going the extra step. They are the life and soul of every community. We were delighted that the Government stepped up and provided €15 million to the clubs. The clubs are supported by the national governing bodies and also by the local sports partnerships, which are in contact with them regularly and supporting them on the ground on an ongoing basis. Any guidance and training the clubs require is provided through their national governing body or the local sports partnership. This needs to continue, obviously.

I agree with the Deputy on the importance of sport and physical activity for people's health and well-being. If people are healthy, active and engage in outdoor activity, they have a better chance of fighting a pandemic. To that effect, we will be launching a policy on outdoor activity in the next week. It promotes being active and outdoor sports. Clubs are involved in that at local level. We need to promote this. It is about utilising greenways, walkways and blueways or anything that will encourage people to go out and participate in sport.

The important point is that there is a sport for everyone. One does not need to be able to kick a football. If one cannot do so, there is another sport. It might be in a boat or in a boxing ring. There is something for everyone. We encourage everyone, irrespective of their abilities or disabilities, to participate. An important point is that it is never too late to start. This really came through during the pandemic. Everybody was out walking again. They were utilising the forests around the country, which is really to be encouraged. They were bringing their children to the forests and allowing them to experience physical activity, such as walking, and nature at the same time. Important work was done on this. We strongly encourage people to adopt physical activity into their way of life and continue with it into the winter months.