Mr. Padraig Power:

I will try to be as brief as possible because I know time is of the essence.

By way of background, the IRFU is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in Ireland. It is an all-Ireland, 32-county sport and we are a not-for-profit organisation, meaning that every penny that is generated is funnelled directly back into the sport. We are volunteer-led and managed by a professional executive.

At the elite end of our sport, we have five professional men's teams: Ireland, Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Ulster. For our women's 15s team, we have recently introduced a contracting model for the first time. Below these teams we have sub-academies and national pathways feeding into these teams. Underneath the elite level we have more than 250,000 players, both men and women, boys and girls, enjoying playing the game across the country.

As an organisation, our business model is very straightforward. The professional game generates revenue through match day ticket sales, sponsorship, merchandising and broadcast contracts. These revenues must pay for the cost of running professional rugby and at the same time must create a surplus which is invested back into the grassroots of the game. Our strategy is to repeat this cycle, which allows us to grow participation from which we can nurture and develop talent. It has served us well. The Ireland men's team is currently number one in the world. We secured a memorable grand slam in the Six Nations in 2023. Our provinces continue to compete for honours at the top of the European game every year, with Munster winning the URC title last May. Our under-20s men are in the final of the world championship this Friday in South Africa against France, and we wish them every success.

On the women's side of the game, major investment is being made to ensure that our women's 15s team has all the support necessary to become a competitive team. From a TV point of view, the Vodafone women's inter-provincial series kicks off in a few weeks with all games live on TG4, and our women's and men's 7s teams have both qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic games. We will continue to provide our utmost support to them in their preparation over the coming year.

Turning to today, we are here to discuss the future of the broadcasting landscape in Ireland. It is important that we share how we are set up in terms of broadcasting arrangements. Broadcasting income remains the most important revenue stream we have as it underpins the very structure of our sport and represents between 20% and 25% of our income. It is critical to note that success for Irish rugby is maintaining the balance between promoting our games to as wide an audience as possible while at the same time generating the necessary revenues to fund and grow our sport at all levels. The IRFU, together with its counterpart unions in England, France, Italy, Scotland and Wales, formed the Six Nations, and their brief is to sell the rights for all matches, men, women and under-20s, centrally to try to drive the revenues up as much as possible. The IRFU is also a shareholder in EPCR, the entity that organises European rugby, and we are a founding member of the Celtic League. The four provinces play in all these tournaments and, like the Six Nations, the broadcast rights are sold centrally on behalf of all participating teams.

Today's meeting is about the future of sports broadcasting. It is a very complex issue. The media landscape is fragmenting very quickly, and the manner in which people consume their sport is changing and in constant flux. This represents a real challenge for sport and for broadcasters, and the demand for more than whistle-to-whistle coverage is growing rapidly as the line between entertainment and sport blurs. How we as sports rights holders and broadcasters react and manage this is critical. In Irish rugby we challenge take this very seriously. We are very happy to be here today to join this discussion and we look forward to making a very positive contribution on this very important topic.