Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Treacy is well used to being against the clock over the years so I am sure this experience is no different. I welcome both witnesses and I thank them for taking the time to come before the committee to discuss the work they do, which is critically important to many people across the country. I am here as a member of the committee. Previously, I have been here as chairman of the committee and also as a Minister of State. Joni Mitchell had a song, "Both Sides Now" but I have seen this from three sides at this stage. For the record, I want to say that working so closely with Mr. Treacy when I was in the Department gave me a great insight into the amount of work he does and the importance of it. It has to be stated here just how important his work has been, specifically during the Covid-19 period. That is not often acknowledged. Like every public agency Sport Ireland will have its critics and people who will take pot-shots at it but I want to thank everyone on the Sport Ireland team for their massive response to Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic in March, which continues.

Mr. Treacy touched on some of the issues. From very early on we convened a body comprising the main stakeholders in sport. That was the genesis, ultimately, for the funding that came on board during the summer, the allocation of which was announced recently. Sport Ireland's input into that process was invaluable. Also, the return to sport protocols involved an enormous body of work which was carried out in a relatively short period of time under difficult circumstances, with most of it being done remotely. It facilitated the return of sport in this country including the safe and early return of high performance sport, which people forget about. That was critically important, especially when we see that some of our athletes performed very well internationally during the summer, for example, in cycling. The work of Sport Ireland was crucial to that.

The messaging over the past eight months has been very important. Sport Ireland's use of its platform to have a positive impact on the mental health as well as the physical health of the nation cannot be overstated. In some ways it is a victim of its own success in that participation levels spiked during the first lockdown and into the early summer. As a result of that, the programme for Government now has a very difficult target to reach over the coming years but I have no doubt that it is well up for the challenge.

I have a few brief questions the first of which is on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. How has Covid-19 affected preparations for the Games. I know it is the same for every country worldwide but are there any additional challenges on that front? Also, how will it have affected the cycle in respect of the Paris Olympic Games? My understanding is that they will go ahead as scheduled in 2024, so Sport Ireland has only a three year window. What impact will that have on European and world competition?

On the European Cross Country Championships, we were looking forward to have those in a few weeks time. The witnesses might give detail on how certain the plans are for those championships, which will be a major event for the sports campus and is very important.

With regard to the unprecedented package of supports that have been announced and allocated, that is done based on an anticipation that we will get out of the Covid pandemic during 2021. The great news today is Pfizer saying its vaccine has 95% efficacy. Its competitors announced a few days ago that their vaccines had 94.5% efficacy. Last week, the efficacy of Pfizer's vaccine was at 90% so competition is very healthy among pharmaceutical companies as well as sport. Is Sport Ireland working off a deadline when normality will return?

Does Sport Ireland have a date where it feels sport will be in a normal place? Is it working from such a timeline?

On the national sports policy, it is great that we are in a positive trajectory towards meeting our funding targets by 2027. The policy contains many other targets apart from funding, but without the funding it would not be possible to achieve any of the other targets. We have had nine months of Covid and can anticipate some more months. How much of an impact do the witnesses feel that will have on the overall targets in the sports policy? Will parts of the policy require review as this continues? Are there elements which are now obsolete? It was prepared at a totally different time and a different world and things have changed. Does the plan now warrant revision?