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

I think this is fairly strong. We have just not set out exactly what these sanctions will be, but they will be significant. I honestly think, though, that it is in the best interests of organisations to do this. Boards and organisations in general will be better with this diversity, as will sport itself. I do not think, frankly, that members will accept anything else and this is not an unreasonable thing to ask governing bodies to do.

Regarding the key areas of funding in the context of Sport Ireland, I mentioned that an announcement will be made next week regarding the national governing bodies. There is a special unit for high performance. There is also campus development, at the national sports campus. Women in sport is also an important priority. I refer as well to the general administration and services provided to governing bodies and to sport in general. These are the main areas on which the organisation spends money and we see good results from it. There is a very good set-up there. It gives great help to sport and we are seeing success come from the work that Sport Ireland is doing. It is able to nurture the talents that people have to allow them to be successful on the world stage. Additionally, this is not just about excellence and success. Those aspects are important, but so is getting more people participating in sport, which is a key objective of the Government.