Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The initiative Mr. Horan mentioned about dealing with the banks is a really crucial one. Given that much of the land, sports clubs are is State-owned or leased through the local authority, liens on any mortgages would often be against that. There is not the same capacity to realise a debt if a club runs into trouble. I am happy to try to facilitate this with the Minister with responsibility for sport but there might be an opportunity for the three organisations to meet representatives of the banking industry to see what can be done. If the banks step up to the mark, it would take significant pressure off local clubs, in particular, which might have very small loans.

I will not dwell too much on the financial elements because there are other issues I want to speak about. I do not want to unpick the national plan that was been announced only this week. I attended a funeral earlier this week where the doors were closed to many people who wanted to attend and sympathise with the bereaved. #The idea of people returning to a stadium, particularly in Dublin where we will not even be able to return in small numbers, seems a long way off. I agree that we need to start planning for what that looks like, should the virus continue for a long period. I have a question on schoolchildren. In the light of the national plan, what engagement have the organisations had regarding matches for school-aged children?

I appreciate that contact is inevitable during a match and that training is permitted but have there been discussions on allowing matches at junior level?