Ms Catherine Carty:

On the inclusion piece, there have been gradients in participation in Ireland over the years. There has been some improvement in that, but it is by no means at a level we would like. We are in the process of concluding a project with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, where we had discussions with a wide range of marginalised population groups on their access to sport in Ireland. We are not at the stage where that access is anywhere near where it needs to be across disability, ethnic minorities, Traveller populations, low-income groups and a range of population groups who experience marginalisation. There is a lot of work to be done in that.

There is a human capacity gap here. Mr. McGroarty mentioned professionalising the workforce. We would welcome that as well. There is a new policy due out, it is hoped imminently, on education for sustainable development. That approach, which aligns with the SDG indicators Mr. McGroarty mentioned, and given the SOC is built around that data, will change how those working in the sector in Ireland can embrace inclusion. At the moment, much of the work we do to ensure the workforce, or even the volunteers, can work with marginalised populations is based on a cohort of people in that sector who have not really dealt in their pre-vocational training with working with marginalised populations. The approach of education for sustainable development, which is a new policy emerging from the Department of Education and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science will address this.

We have also developed a programme that is free and available for volunteers and sports clubs around the community to address this competence within the staff and volunteers who work with them. It is called TRUST: Sport as it should be - fun, fair, clean, safe, equitable and accessible. That is available to support those staff who want to know how they can include someone with a disability or how they can ensure their sport offer is available throughout the life course at all levels. That is something we want to do.

The Fit for Life programme, which I mentioned, is by UNESCO, is about health, sport and education partnerships. Again, that brings together the expertise that is needed to address these inequalities. Inequality is at the forefront of that development. It is one of the main principles of the sustainable development agenda, which means leaving no one behind. It is a case of building that capacity and that we cannot really say we are developing if we are continuing to leave people behind and leaving people out of the loop. It is a policy priority of that agenda globally that has been embraced on the international level and, indeed, in the Irish national policy that seeks to address inclusion gradients and access gradients. It is one that needs work, but addressing that capacity within those who emerge from programmes and courses that equip people to work in the sports sector is where we need to fill that so that we no longer retrofit inclusion and rather arm people with the competence to deal with it.

People going into work in the sports sector sometimes tell us they do not feel confident or competent to include beyond what was traditionally a mainstream population. They feel a little lost. It is a matter of building that competence and confidence to enable people, everyone from a volunteer to someone emerging from a university programme, to be competent and to feel happy to work with these population groups. When they do that, it is a positive experience. It impacts positively on the organisation, on the individual and on the families of people who have disabilities or others who feel themselves marginalised. As Mr. McGroarty said, reaching out to those communities is something that came through strongly from the work we did with IHREC recently on the TRUST project. They are not going to come to you. Sports clubs throughout the country say they are open for everyone, but until the perception is there among these population groups that they are genuinely open for everyone and have something to offer, they will not rock up to their sports offer on a Saturday morning and expect to be included. They need to go to where these people are and invite them.

Another issue is social values and social outcome. The social component of that sport engagement is critically important for this population group. It is what enables them to integrate into their communities and to feel involved and welcome. They need to be involved and welcome at all levels, not just as a player or participant, but in making decisions within the club, being on the board and getting involved at all levels. They are some of the outcomes that can be built into this. The impact of that extends from their involvement in sports participation into their willingness to engage with education, with the rest of their community, with the workforce and with other aspects. It has a huge multiplier effect. That is the value of that social outcome.

The Fit for Life initiative and engagement with that will help to bring those tools to the grassroots organisations and to the policy level in Ireland to enable us to look at how best to mobilise this nationally. That would be a good way to go.