Ms Nora Stapleton:

There is no current research other than what some of the sports organisations themselves have done. Many of the sports which have applied for funding towards referee initiatives in their sports have done their own research on that issue. There is some such research there that we may be able to collate.

Our long-term aim is to replicate much of what we have done with coaching and to take a similar approach for refereeing. In the same way as we did our Women in Sport Coaching Research report, we will repeat that exercise work for officiators. We are waiting until Sport Ireland coaching establishes its referee or officiator support services and then we will link closely with that unit, with which I work, in order to establish what our plans will then be for refereeing. The aim is to replicate much of what we have done for coaching because there may be similar attitudes, as may be the case and as has been pointed out by the Chair there, in how referees feel.