Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

As members are aware, Sport Ireland was established under the provisions of the Sport Ireland Act 2015 to succeed the previous Irish Sports Council. Sport Ireland's main functions are to encourage the promotion, development and co-ordination of competitive sport and to facilitate increased participation in sport by the population generally.

Sport Ireland is almost exclusively State-funded from the Vote for tourism, culture, arts, Gaeltacht, sport and media. In 2021, Sport Ireland's income from all State sources totalled more than €178 million out of total income of €179.6 million. Sport Ireland's expenditure in 2021 was €175 million. Some 82% of this was accounted for by recurrent grant payments to support sports bodies and individual sports persons. The largest single expenditure area was €73.6 million paid in 2021 under the Covid resilience scheme, which provided exceptional financial support for the sector to alleviate the impact of Covid-19, especially on the main field sports. Expenditure under the scheme in 2020 was €88.5 million.

Sport Ireland's statement of financial position reflects past investment in the provision of the extensive Sports Campus Ireland facilities. Depreciation on the assets totalling €5.8 million is reflected in the income and expenditure statement. Sport Ireland's salary, pensions and administration costs in 2021 amounted to just under €7.6 million. Sport Ireland's surplus for the year was €5.75 million.

Sport Ireland Facilities designated activity company, DAC, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sport Ireland. The company's primary objective is to operate and maintain the facilities of the Sport Ireland campus. Separate financial statements are prepared in respect of the company. In 2021, the company received an operating grant of just under €5.5 million and a capital grant of just under €2.8 million from Sport Ireland. It generated turnover of almost €3.5 million from fees and charges and returned a surplus of €29,000 for the year.

The 2021 financial statements of both Sport Ireland and Sport Ireland Facilities DAC received unqualified audit opinions.