Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise if my line dropped out just before my speaking slot previously. I thank all the witnesses for their contributions, which were very informative. There were lots of positives and other things that we should not be proud of. The significant disparity in funding is simply not good enough in this day and age. We need to change this and address the disparity from a policy point of view.

I want to speak to the really exciting growth in women's sport and increased attendances. As a spectacle, it is excellent and it holds its own. I have tuned in to many of the women's camogie and GAA matches and it is incredibly entertaining. The skill level is through the roof. Being from Cork, we have relied on the ladies' teams for success over the past couple of years. I have certainly been very much tuned in to it as a spectacle more so over recent years.

I have a question for Ms O'Connor, or any of our witnesses who wish to take it. What can be learned from other codes? We have seen in athletics that two of Ireland's biggest success stories are Sonia O'Sullivan and Phil Healy. Ms Healy has been making incredible inroads recently with personal best after personal best. It appears to be very much equal footing for male and female in the athletics. I am not sure if that has always been the way but it certainly is the case since I have been watching sport. I wonder if this is because it is an Olympic event and an international sport? What we can learn from tennis, for example? This is a sport that comes from a place where there was significant disparity between male and female participants but is now almost reaching the stage of parity. It is not perfect yet but Serena Williams is just as well-known as Roger Federer. While I am not sure how well paid Ms Williams is, there is almost parity of recognition there. Winter sports is another good example. In winter sports such as alpine, cross country or biathlon skiing there is almost equal parity in TV coverage, crowd attendance and participation. Have studies been done into how that was achieved and why this is the case? Is there something we in Ireland can learn from that?

On the growth of Irish women's sport and Irish women's rugby, my sister played for Ireland in the Rugby World Cup in Vancouver in 2008 or 2009. It was a very proud moment. Since then, women's rugby has gone from strength to strength. I am not sure if that is because she left the team, but they have had huge success. I just wanted to give a plug to her while I was talking about it.