Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is exactly as the Minister outlined in terms of the entire Department. First, the 2022 budget was cast at a time when Covid was still a thing; in fact, it is still a thing but I mean when it impacted on activities, keeping clubs open and so on. The 2022 budget had funding to support sectors through the worst of the pandemic. If we look at the sports budget, diving deep into the figures, we will see a drop of €41 million but €15 million of Covid-related funding was received in 2022, which is Sport Ireland supports related to the pandemic, and €35 million in respect of the cost-of-living crisis.

Separate Covid supports are no longer required and that explains why the Vote provision has fallen. In fact, it has increased if those provisions are left out. I am quite happy that Sport Ireland will be able to continue providing the services it does and doing the work it does to enable sports to function in this country and those at the highest level to compete internationally.