Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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Apologies have been received from Deputy Máire Devine and Senator Nicole Ryan. It is my understanding that Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú will substitute for Deputy Devine for at least a month.

I am delighted to open the fifth and final public meeting of module 1 on family and community to address addiction, sports and well-being. I welcome our witnesses, from the Gaelic Players Association, GPA, Ms Jennifer Rogers, head of player development and well-being, Mr. Luke Loughlin, GPA member, Westmeath football player; from the Irish Homeless Street Leagues, Mr. Kevin Leavy, board member and Ms Frances Kavanagh, director; from Sport Ireland, Ms Mary Van Lieshout, director of participation, ethics, integrity and research and Mr. Phelim Macken, manager with Limerick Sports Partnership; from the BRACE Community Response, Ballymun and the Boxing Clever programme, Mr. Karl O'Brien, co-ordinator access and intervention BRACE Community and response co-ordinator Boxing Clever Ballymun, and Ms Triona Byrne, recovery community development officer, co-ordinator of the Boxing Clever Recovery Academy. Our agenda items today are to engage on the topic of addiction, sport and well-being.

Before we begin, I must deliver a note on privilege. All witnesses and members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity. Therefore, if statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, witnesses and members will be directed to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative that they comply with any such direction.

I remind members of the constitutional requirement that in order to participate in public meetings, members must be physically present within the confines of the Leinster House complex. Members of the committee attending remotely must do so from within the precincts of Leinster House. This is due to the constitutional requirement that in order to participate in public meetings, members must be physically present within the confines of the place where the Parliament has chosen to sit. In this regard, I ask any members partaking via MS Teams that prior to making their contribution to the meeting they confirm they are on the grounds of the Leinster House campus.

On the engagement with the topic of addiction, sport and well-being I again welcome our witnesses and invite them to begin engagement. All the opening statements have been circulated among members and will be published on the Oireachtas website after this session. As agreed, we will limit each opening statement to five minutes to allow plenty of time for questions and answers. I am conscious that a wide range of issues will be the subject of the discussion today. If necessary, further and more detailed information on certain issues can be sent to the clerk to the committee for circulation to members. I should add that members will be in and out of the committee room. There are many places they have to be.

I invite Ms Jennifer Rogers to give her opening statement on behalf of the Gaelic Players Association. She is very welcome.

Ms Jennifer Rogers:

The Gaelic Players Association welcomes the opportunity to speak to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drugs Use on the topic of addiction, sports and well-being. I am the head of player development and well-being with the GPA. As the representative body for more than 4,000 current and a growing number of former intercounty Gaelic games players, the GPA's mission is to enable players to balance the huge demands placed on them with the opportunity, support and investment required for them to be at their best on and off the pitch. Since our merger with the women's GPA in 2020, we have operated under four key pillars: player representation, player welfare, player development and equality, guided by our values of leadership, care, ambition and innovation.

Addiction and substance misuse are complex multifactorial issues that can profoundly impact both athletic performance and personal well-being. The GPA believes that sport can be both a protective factor and a potential pressure point in this context. Our approach is grounded in prevention, education, early intervention and holistic well-being support for all our members. Elite amateur athletes face unique pressures, physical, psychological and social, that can contribute to vulnerability around substance use. These include performance and identity pressures, transition challenges, cultural factors and stigma and silence.

Research highlights that while rates of illicit drug use among elite athletes are not necessarily higher than the general population, the consequences can be more severe given public scrutiny, sponsorship pressures and the influence athletes have as role models. The GPA's approach to player well-being, including addiction awareness and support, is grounded in a proactive player-centred model. Through the GPA's BEO360 player development programme, the GPA provides one-to-one individualised personal development support to players under four key areas: dual career; transition; well-being and life skills.

Mental health first aid training is available to GPA members. It is aimed at increasing mental health literacy and confidence in providing support to others. The GPA collaborates with experts in addiction services and accredited counsellors to ensure evidence-based support and messaging. Our education begins early. We target younger intercounty players and new panel members who are beginning their senior intercounty journeys through our annual induction rookie camps. All intercounty players are required to complete mandatory antidoping education to raise awareness and support their decision-making. Recreational drugs including cannabis and cocaine are prohibited and any player is subject to testing in season.

The GPA provides a range of confidential support services for its members. We strongly value the role we can play in addressing well-being and addiction issues through partnership and advocacy. GPA members bravely share their own personal stories around substance misuse and addiction in the media and with fellow players to raise awareness, reduce stigma and promote help-seeking to those who need. The GPA works closely with the GAA's community and health department and external agencies to promote positive mental health, particularly at underage and club level. An example of this is the "Movember Ahead of the Game" mental health literacy programme. Through this programme, current and former intercounty players deliver workshops to young people, their parents and coaches in GAA clubs. The programme in which we partner with the GAA in November has reached over 10,000 people throughout the island of Ireland since its commencement in 2023.

In conclusion, the GPA believes that sport can be a powerful platform for positive change in how society views and addresses many social issues, including addiction.

By raising awareness, equipping athletes with knowledge, resilience and access to support, we can reduce harm and model healthy, balanced lifestyles for future generations.

Luke Loughlin is a current Westmeath Footballer. He was recently named on the Tailteann Cup team of the year and co-captained his club, The Downs, to a Westmeath senior county championship title a few weeks ago. Luke has bravely shared his personal story with GAA communities and the wider public and he will now share his own personal experience with the committee.

Mr. Luke Loughlin:

Good morning. I am a current member of the Westmeath football team and an active member of the GPA. However, the main reason I am here today is that I am currently in recovery from alcohol and substance abuse. I am going to briefly share my own experience with addiction and how I have been able to turn my life around for the better. From birth, I have had no relationship with my biological father. As a 30-year-old man, that sentence does not carry any weight or leave any marks but as child I always felt I was missing something. I struggled in my childhood, and more so in my teens, with the feelings of trust, abandonment, not being good enough and constantly looking for validation or attention. Ultimately, I could never be myself. At the age of 14, I tried alcohol for the first time with my friends and the feeling it gave me gave me confidence, allowed me to be someone else and was able to take me out of my own head. I never got that feeling again as good since. For the next few years, my behaviour continued to get worse. I left school at 16. I was out drinking and gambling most weekends and started to experiment with drugs such as pills and cocaine. Sport always seemed to be the only release where I felt good about myself without having to drink or take drugs. My family had recognised there were issues but every time they brought anything up, I would play it off or would go to some sort of therapy and just lie. As an adult, I tried everything apart from going to get help. I emigrated to America, I joined the Army and I went back to college but everywhere I went, my problems and those feelings always followed me. I was blinded by my addiction and could not see the damage I was doing to myself and the hurt I was bringing to my family as they just wanted to see me well. I pushed a lot of people away who tried to help me. As the years went by I spiralled out of control. I wrote off two cars. I am very lucky to be alive and not to have hurt someone else. I could not hold down a job and was dropped from the Westmeath panel numerous times. A video also circulated of me passed out on the side of a train tracks. I had started to develop psychosis and a real low point was feeling that suicide was my only option.

In 2021, my lovely mother told me that she could not do this anymore, even though she loved me. She said she had three other children she had to take care of, it had been ten years, and that if I finally did not go to treatment we would have to cut ties. She contacted the GPA and it got me into treatment in Cuan Mhuire, Athy, straight away. In treatment, I was able to fully focus on myself without any outside distractions. To be able to talk about your problems without judgment and have someone who understands listen and help you see things in a different way, is ultimately what helped me to change. It was not easy all the time but anything worth doing never is. In Cuan Mhuire, I started to train and exercise and this became a massive part of my recovery. I was equipped with the tools to deal with problems I might potentially face. I suppose it is fitting that my case officer at the time was Jennie, who is here with me today. She also visited me while I was there.

As I finished my time in Cuan Mhuire, I was conscious that my recovery was the number one focus in life. It gave me a chance to start again and try to make amends. Ultimately, it gave me a chance to be a better person but this process was one day at a time. When I was one-year sober, Westmeath won the Tailteann Cup and as part of that team I did an interview about my football and sobriety. I could not believe the number of people who reached out and told me they struggled with similar issues to me and from that moment on, I have used my life to try to help others. I now work as a games promotion officer for the GAA and I do talks and workshops on alcohol and substance abuse. Through my social media, working with kids in schools and continuing to represent Westmeath in football, I have been able to create a life that my family and my community can be proud of. In a way, I would not change any of it as it has made me the person I am today. A lot of people have helped me in my life and I will always be in debt. However, instead of paying them back I try to pay it forward and set a good example for the young people who watched me every weekend. On this journey that I am on, I cannot emphasise how important the supports are - especially from the GPA, in my case. From struggling with my mental health and helping me with my personal development and the work that goes on behind the scenes, without these amazing people, people like me might never have got the help they needed.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I thank Mr. McLoughlin very much for coming in and for sharing his story. I am sure we will have a lot of questions when it comes to the members. I invite Mr. Kevin Leavy to give his opening statement on behalf of the Irish Homeless Street Leagues.

Mr. Kevin Leavy:

I thank the Chair and members of the committee. The Irish Homeless Street Leagues, IHSL, has had a profound effect on people impacted by addiction and social isolation since its inception in 2004. It has successfully helped individuals develop positive and lasting relationships within their communities, harnessing the transformative power of sport as a catalyst for change. At the heart of our mission is the belief that every person has the potential to rebuild their life. Through sport, we empower individuals facing adversity such as homelessness, addiction and mental health challenges, to cultivate a renewed sense of purpose and self-worth. Participation in our leagues not only enhances physical health but also nurtures essential life skills and fosters communication and teamwork that extend well beyond the pitch.

The ripple effect of our work is significant. When we uplift individuals, we also uplift their families, communities and society. Our players, who are people who have battled addiction, experienced homelessness, are refugees, have been involved in the criminal justice system, are long-term unemployed, are members of the Traveller community or other marginalised groups, experience improved self-esteem and a renewed sense of purpose. They become advocates for change, serving as role models to younger generations and spreading hope throughout their communities. Some players go on to become coaches with the street leagues. The Irish Homeless Street Leagues' commitment to inclusion, respect, and teamwork creates an environment where every participant feels valued and empowered. We build a community where success stories inspire others, reinforcing the idea that, with the right support, anyone can overcome their challenges.

Sport plays a crucial role in helping socially-isolated people build social capital by providing a platform for personal development and social connections. Through participation in team sports, individuals can build confidence; foster community and teamwork; develop life and leadership skills; enhance physical and mental health; make choices that empower them; create opportunities; improve communication; develop structure and routine; practice conflict resolution; strengthen resilience; and improve empathy and respect. These skills are not only valuable in sports but also translate into various aspects of personal and professional life, contributing to overall growth as well as increasing recovery and social capital.

The year 2025 has seen a significant growth in the number of leagues the IHSL oversees. Our ten evening leagues scattered across Dublin, Longford, Limerick and Cork are complemented by ten new nationwide community street leagues in Dublin, Dundalk, Drogheda and Galway. These community leagues are run in partnership with numerous agencies such as Merchants Quay Ireland, Coolmine, Chrysalis Community Drug Project, Frontline Make Change, the Salvation Army Ireland, Louth Healthy Eating, Galway Sports Partnership, Compass Ireland and the Dóchas Centre. We plan to engage with more prisons in 2026.

We cater for approximately 350 players from over 23 nationalities. The gender split is approximately 85% male to 15% female across an age range of 18 to 50. Each year, we host our all-Ireland finals in Tallaght, from which a squad of men and women are selected to represent Ireland at the yearly Homeless World Cup. This is the highlight of our programme. It is a target for all players and selection is not solely on football ability. Mindset is as important. The player must have developed enough resilience to be able to handle the pressure of competing at an international tournament and must have shown a commitment to the team. Successfully competing at an international level requires the player to have developed confidence and emotional regulation skills. This growth must be partnered with a clear commitment to the team. There have been cases of players coming back year after year in the hope of being chosen, and we believe this reflects positively on their attitude and highlights their commitment to the programme.

Players receive an official Ireland cap from the FAI and 85% to 88% of participants successfully build positive connections in their communities, as well as wider society, through various means such as finding a job, staying clear of addiction, returning to education, reconnecting with family, etc. Recovery from adversity is fundamentally a journey toward rediscovering and rebuilding a meaningful life, which is why meaning, purpose and belonging are essential, not optional, elements. Feeling disconnected or without direction can keep people stuck in situations they would rather change. Finding purpose, cultivating a sense of meaning and genuine belonging address the deep isolation and loneliness that result from social exclusion. This connects people to a supportive community such as a team, where they are valued for, not despite, their past but for the full, hopeful potential of their future self.

In conclusion, the Irish Homeless Street Leagues is not just a sports initiative; it is a movement dedicated to healing and rebuilding lives through the power of sport. Together, we can continue to transform lives, foster resilience and create a society that embraces and uplifts every individual. I thank the committee members for their attention and support.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I thank Mr. Kevin Leavy for his contribution. I now invite Ms Mary Van Lieshout to make her opening statement on behalf of Sport Ireland.

Ms Mary Van Lieshout:

Sport Ireland is the non-regulatory statutory body with responsibility for the development of sport in Ireland. Under the Sport Ireland Act 2015, we are tasked with: developing participation in sport and high-performance sport; eliminating doping in sport; developing coaching; developing guidelines on the protection of children in sport; and developing the Sport Ireland Campus.

Sport should be a positive and enriching experience for everyone involved. Sport Ireland's vision is of an active Ireland where everyone can enjoy the lifelong benefits of sport and physical activity. To advance this, Sport Ireland provides direct, regular financial support to 100 sports organisations including 65 national governing bodies, ten other funded bodies and 29 local sports partnerships.

The ecosystem works together with a collaborative and integrated approach to target those at risk of exclusion in society. The primary delivery agent for programmes focusing on social inclusion are the local sports partnerships, LSPs, which are mandated to target minority groups. I am delighted to be joined by my colleague, Mr. Phelim Macken, co-ordinator of the LSP in Limerick.

In 2024, the Irish Sports Monitor found that 49% of the adult population regularly participated in sport. This represented a two-percentage point increase since 2023. The number of people regularly participating in sport here has increased from 1.98 million in 2023 to 2.09 million in 2024. Sport Ireland works to support this growth of participation nationwide in line with the targets set out in the national sports policy. As the development agency for sport, Sport Ireland works to empower the sector to design and implement programmes and initiatives that increase participation in sport and target underrepresented groups, including those facing addiction. It is our ambition that LSPs and national governing bodies, NGBs, work collaboratively within grassroots sport to service the whole community. This is delivered through funding streams including core, dormant accounts and European Social Fund Plus, ESF+, which contribute towards the well-being of people impacted by drug addiction.

We know sport delivers significant and wide-ranging benefits to Irish society, extending far beyond physical fitness and elite performance. Research from Sport Ireland highlights that sports participation improves mental health outcomes and helps reduce gender disparities in mental well-being. These effects are especially meaningful in disadvantaged communities, where targeted initiatives such as ESF+ and dormant accounts funding help remove participation barriers and foster stronger, more connected communities. A growing body of evidence is supporting the role of physical activity in treatment and recovery from substance use disorders. It has also been found that when integrated into therapeutic approaches like cognitive behavioural therapy, exercise addresses both the physical and psychological aspects of addiction.

Group-based physical activity plays a unique role in social recovery, helping individuals expand their support networks and reduce exposure to drug-use triggers. Taken together, these findings underscore the importance of embedding sport and physical activity into public health and addiction strategies, not only as a tool for treatment and prevention, but as a foundation for long-term personal and community resilience.

When focusing on the link between adolescent substance use and sport in Ireland, the research remains limited. However, the Planet Youth initiative, coming out of Iceland, conducts biennial surveys of 15- and 16-year-olds across regions in Ireland. This data highlights a paradox, whereby participation in sport is positively correlated with alcohol consumption in adolescents. There is a need for integrated strategies that promote the positive aspects of sport and could address potential links to early alcohol initiation. Sport can also expose individuals to risk-taking behaviours such as recreational drug use in post-match or social settings.

As a development agency, our work is grounded in research and data, enabling us to highlight the positive impact of sport while identifying areas where further progress is required. Sport Ireland is playing its role to empower the sector to deliver targeted initiatives aimed at increasing participation across all cohorts of society, including those facing addiction. I thank the committee.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I thank Ms Van Lieshout for her contribution. I call Mr. Karl O'Brien to give his opening statement on behalf of BRACE and the Boxing Clever programme.

Mr. Karl O'Brien:

I thank the committee for inviting Ms Byrne and me and giving us the opportunity to share some of what we do through the Boxing Clever programme. At its heart, Boxing Clever is about creating real, community-based integrated pathways into recovery. We do that by combining three key elements: rehabilitation, education and fitness. It is a structured programme that brings people together in their own community to begin and sustain recovery, offering both recovery initiation and recovery progression pathways. The programme was originally developed and delivered in Ballymun, but over the years it has grown from a local initiative into a citywide and now national model, with communities across Ireland connecting with our core ingredients of learning, well-being and belonging.

What makes Boxing Clever different is its accessibility. We know from experience, and from the evidence, that traditional residential treatment is not always an option, particularly for women. Many have family and caring responsibilities that make it impossible to step away for lengthy periods. Our programme offers a credible, community-based alternative, one that allows people to engage in treatment, recovery and education while remaining connected to their families and communities and local support networks. While offering an alternative treatment pathway, Boxing Clever also provides exceptional value for money when compared with other residential drug treatment responses. The cost per participant on average is €1,250, whereas tier 4 funded residential treatment beds can cost upwards of €12,000 per bed for a residential drug treatment programme. Boxing Clever delivers comparable outcomes and lasting community benefits at significantly less cost.

Our approach is strongly evidence-informed, aligning with many of the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drug Use, including the call for more health-led, community-rooted and gender-aware responses to addiction. Through Boxing Clever, participants can bank recovery capital and build skills, confidence, social supports and a renewed sense of purpose. They complete accredited education modules, take part in structured fitness and well-being activities and engage in group work that supports both emotional, mental and physical health. The mentoring role within Boxing Clever is the cornerstone of the programme’s community-based recovery and rehabilitation model. Mentors are not external professionals. They are graduates of the programme who have lived experience and are only a few steps ahead of current participants.

What we see every day are people rediscovering belief in themselves. Many go on to further education, employment or community work. A key part of that journey is a shift in identity, from previously fractured identities to that of a self-directed student, athlete and employee. We are proud that Boxing Clever Ballymun has been recognised by Aontas for excellence in community adult education. That recognition means a lot because it shows that education and recovery can, and should, go hand-in-hand.

Our reach and reputation have continued to grow. Currently, there are five Boxing Clever programmes running across Dublin, with national implementation in Cork, Limerick and Louth. Additionally, at the moment the programme is in the pilot stage of potential implementation in four prisons. We have had the opportunity to present the programme at national and international conferences, sharing the model with other practitioners and policymakers who recognise the value of a community-based continuum of care. To date in Ballymun, 145 students have graduated from Boxing Clever and 110 of them have achieved QQI awards, with many progressing to third-level education. These include one former student pursuing a PhD and numerous others who have earned degree qualifications and are now employed in the health, fitness and social care sectors.

In short, Boxing Clever demonstrates what can be achieved when sport, education and recovery services work together. It is a model that is cost effective, with an evidenced capacity to be replicated. The programme is deeply rooted in community development principles, a model that connects people, builds well-being, creates integrated pathways of care and offers real hope. As one participant was quoted as saying in the most recent Boxing Clever research report, "It was the first step of so many good things." That is what Boxing Clever is about - creating those first steps and helping people to keep moving forward. I thank the committee.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I thank Mr. O'Brien very much. We will open the meeting to members. We have seven minutes for members to ask questions or to contribute. Given the strong level of attendance today, we might have to be strict on time, certainly in the first round. I call Senator Evanne Ní Chuilinn.

Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael)
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I thank all the witnesses for coming in. I am really looking forward to the engagement today. I will start with Mr. Loughlin because I want to thank him for sharing his story. I know it is not an easy thing to do. I know it is not the first time he has done it either, but it is still a very brave thing to do, to come in here and share that level of detail. I know he continues to share his story and pay it forward, but it is important for him that he prioritises his recovery too and makes sure he keeps an eye on that and is not just giving his time to everybody else. He has to look after himself as well.

I will start with him because Ms Van Lieshout mentioned that post-match celebratory drug use is anecdotally on the rise. Could Mr. Loughlin give us a picture of that? I will caveat my question by saying I think alcohol is the most dangerous drug, and it is a drug. That culture has always been there too. In terms of recreational drug use in that post-match celebratory type of scenario, is Mr. Loughlin seeing an increase in the anecdotes we are hearing about?

Mr. Luke Loughlin:

I am probably a bit removed from that situation. I suppose we cannot paint everyone with the same brush. As rumours travel around, we are going to kind of say everyone is doing it. There definitely is a problem, probably more so in clubs, with recreational drug use. The problem is the build-up to a final or the letdown after one. People might stay off the drink or whatever for a while beforehand, and this is where the problem comes in. I do not think it is an individual thing,;it can be down to a collective.

I do not think you can blame one person or an organisation for that.

Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael)
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Of course. Mr. Loughlin's road to recovery was through sport because it was through the GPA that he accessed supports. Was his addiction, or his time in addiction, peppered with his life in sport or was it totally separate? He mentioned his search for belonging, and I can relate to that.

Mr. Luke Loughlin:

I thank the Senator.

Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael)
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I can relate to a lot of his story, actually. How much of a hand-in-hand journey was that with his life in sport?

Mr. Luke Loughlin:

From a young age, as I said, I always felt a little different and happened to be quite talented at sport. It probably meant I got away with a lot. Even when I was acting out, my club would probably be like, "This lad will probably be able to help us." The older I got I probably never faced any consequences for my actions so, subconsciously, I just kept going until the penny finally dropped with me. I thank the Senator for the question. I hope that-----

Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael)
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Yes. I thank Mr. Loughlin again.

I want to ask Mr. Leavy about his work. He said his organisation hopes to do a bit more work with the prisons in 2026. We have talked a lot about this on this committee in the context of supports within prisons, whether it is addiction or mental health. Could Mr. Leavy tell us a little about what he plans or what he hopes to do with the Prison Service?

Mr. Kevin Leavy:

Sure. We have been going 20 years. About ten years ago, before I was involved, there was a prison programme but it kind of fell into obsolescence because there was a change of governor and they did not want to continue with it. We have a league going at the moment in Dóchas. One of our coaches coaches our women's world cup team. She goes up there with the world cup team and they have a weekly session. What we discovered from that was that some of the players when they came out of prison did not really know where to go. They wanted to keep going with football and they were a bit lost, so we have set up partnerships with some of the agencies they go into. They go into Coolmine, and we now have the leagues with Coolmine. There was a player who left Dóchas, had a couple of months with nothing and then, when we moved into Coolmine, she was there with them. She joined the team and from that she did trials for the world cup and went on to represent us at the world cup. She has become a kind of inspiration to her peers, her friends, people who want to follow in the same path. We had been working in the background thinking we really want to kick this off again with more prisons. Over the past few months, over the summer, we have grown our board. One of our board members is from Merchants Quay Ireland and her responsibility is with some of the prisons in Leinster. She runs the programmes there. She has Merchants Quay programmes within the prisons. Our plan is to use that and speak to some of the governors in 2026. There is Shelton Abbey. I cannot remember the name of it now but there is a very big one in Cavan. Apparently, they have pitches on site and they have an interest in football. We think that would be an ideal way for us to get in there and become part of their day. Also, then, when they get released, if they are being released into a part of the country we are active in, they can keep the process going and can join as outside. That is the plan. It is to look at Shelton Abbey and the one in Cavan, which I can never remember the name of. We will do them first and then we will take it from there. Then we will have to see how it goes, but that is the current thinking.

Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael)
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Brilliant.

A lot of the witnesses in their opening statements mentioned the pro-social impact of sport and the power of sport to bring people together. I will come to Mr. O'Brien or Ms Byrne on the Boxing Clever initiative. In terms of funding, they are doing so much in relation to not only community work but also health and mental health. There are a lot of strands. Where is most of their funding coming from, and are there any other streams that we could maybe help them identify?

Mr. Karl O'Brien:

There are differences depending on the area and the delivery of the programme. In terms of Ballymun, we get funding directly from the Ballymun local drug and alcohol task force. It has been continuous funders of ours. It would be different from, say, recovery academy and that channel of funding and what that stream looks like. Ms Byrne can speak to that. Mr. Macken is here too. Limerick manages its own budget in terms of the funding stream for that, so I cannot speak to that. There are variations around funding. When we come as a network, one of our pieces is how we continue to develop the programme further across communities both locally and regionally. There are limitations to what we can work with but that depends on where the funding is drawn from.

Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael)
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I think I am out of time.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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Sorry, I created some confusion at the start by not declaring that Senator Evanne Ní Chuilinn had stepped in for Deputy John Paul O'Shea. Similarly, Senator Mary Fitzpatrick is stepping in for James O'Connor. That was my confusion.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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That is no problem. I thank all the witnesses for being here with us. They are very much part of the solution. Sport is very much part of a health-led approach, and I commend them on the work they are doing. It is inspirational, and that is not just Mr. Loughlin but all of them, genuinely. I thank them.

As regards the big challenge, there are all the positives that go with sport but a number of the witnesses call out in their opening statements the environment it creates, the opportunity it creates and the exposure it creates for participation in, introduction to and then regular use of alcohol and drugs. I apologise that I cannot remember which one of the statements it was - maybe it was Ms Rogers's - that indicated that drug use is not any more prevalent in sports than in the general population but in the general population it is one in four, and that is in, I think, the 19-to-65 age group. It is much higher in younger demographics and much higher again in younger male demographics. That is a big issue. I do appreciate the point that was made about the impact on the individual. Mr. Loughlin is a really good example and he articulated really well how the environment in many respects enabled and encouraged him, not deliberately, but by virtue of the fact he was really talented, excuses were made for his behaviour. I have heard anecdotally that players are actually encouraged, coming up to big matches, championships and big competitions, in that coke does not put on the calories the same way as beer does. Senator Ní Chuilinn alluded to the stuff she has heard. You hear this. It is out there. It is just talked about. Our challenge is to try to bring forward real, concrete proposals that the State can implement to truly put in place a health-led approach, not just informally. There is a lot of really good work I really do not want to take from but I think we all recognise that a significant scaling up is required in terms of our response as a society and then the State's support of that response to achieve a truly health-led response. When an individual comes to the witnesses or to their organisations for help, what would be their top priority as to where funding should go to make the resources that would be most meaningful available in order to enable them to respond and to help those individuals? I referred to Ms Rogers's statement, so maybe she wants to start, but I would like to hear from all the witnesses.

Ms Jennifer Rogers:

No problem, and I thank the Senator for the question. For us, from a data perspective, we are not seeing an increase. There was an ESRI report published in 2019 in which 77% of intercounty players felt that their teammates did not engage in illicit drug use or any drug use. We did a recent survey in the past few months where we found that 20% of players felt that their teammates were engaged in recreational drug use, so we have not seen an increase in terms of the data. I understand, however, what the Senator says anecdotally. We have the crisis supports and we are very lucky that we are able to provide those for players in terms of residential care and counselling. Where we see the issue is in early intervention and prevention and raising awareness among young people that this is not a healthy behaviour in terms of coping with the stresses, the demands and the struggles that all of us experience through life. That is why we have partnered with the GAA and Movember on a mental health literacy programme. We are really aware of the impact we need to make earlier, before this becomes an issue. From our perspective, that would be a priority, trying to contact and engage with our membership much earlier, before this becomes a problem.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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Can I just ask about funding? Is that fully funded by the GAA?

Ms Jennifer Rogers:

That programme is funded by Movember and we deliver it in collaboration with the GAA.

Mr. Karl O'Brien:

It is difficult to name a top priority when we are looking at developing a care plan for people and bridging that piece around integrated pathways of care, because the needs change. It is quite a fluid piece. Our role in managing that treatment plan and process is quite integrated within where I work in terms of Ballymun. It is very difficult just to spotlight the particular need at one point. It moves all the time, depending on where the person is moving in the process. It might be educational attainment, and then educational bursaries might be the priority at one point. Drug treatment and a bed might be a priority. A particular skill set might be a priority in terms of funding.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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Yours is a very individualised care plan.

Mr. Karl O'Brien:

It is. The common assessment tool that is coming in respect of integrated pathways of care is where we align our priorities in terms of care plan goals. It moves over time.

Mr. Phelim Macken:

Just to say from a sports partnership perspective, we have a broad reach from preschool to older adults, so we have an education element, an informing element and then crucially an enabling element around sports participation and physical activity. We are almost 24 years now operating as organisations and we have found we are going in to support communities in an increasingly targeted way. Particularly around the education piece and around drugs and alcohol, as Mr. O'Brien mentioned, we have a very successful Boxing Clever programme in Limerick. We have been doing it for seven or eight years. The visibility of an organisation like a sports partnership also having this kind of programme as part of its suite of deliveries means it is an awareness thing as well. That starts that conversation.

Second, we work exclusively with national governing bodies. We do not go in to try to do everything in the club space, be it in soccer, rugby, GAA, athletics and so on. We work collaboratively with the governing body. The GAA healthy club model is doing a lot of work around addiction, mental health, gambling and so on, and then delivering workshops. We have a sports empowerment officer on our staff at the moment who was previously involved in the Boxing Clever programme from a delivery perspective. He is now one of the tutors, on the ground, getting into the clubs and making connections. Again, it is related back to our being an entity around sport and physical activity whereas Mr. O'Brien's organisation is very specifically in the community setting. That, in itself, is a really good magnifier for the community, making people aware that there is evidence there of what is actually happening but also what educational pathways and connections exist. It is trying to bring it into that space from an educational and awareness perspective, which I think it is probably our biggest way of doing that.

We also sit on the drug and alcohol task force in Limerick and work with it around its experts who go into the schools doing the "let's talk about drugs" conversation. Again, it is that connectivity with us. As Sebastian Coe said, sport is the hidden social worker. We do as much as we can but it is about that active systems piece of connecting all the relevant agencies to be able to work in collaboration.

Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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Apologies for being late to the session but I was coming from something else I had to speak at this morning. I have read all the submissions. Mr. Leavy and I have done some bits together over the years in relation to the street leagues and the homeless world cup. Something that always stood out to me was the huge opportunity, privilege and work that the men and women put in to represent their country and go abroad. There is fear at that stage in terms of leaving the country for some people for whom addiction and drug use have meant they have past criminal convictions on their record. Can Mr. Leavy speak to any situations were people's chance to represent their country was either jeopardised or removed in terms of being able to travel? We know that drugs possession sits in the same category as rape, murder and firearms, no matter how small it was. Has that impacted the work of Mr. Leavy's organisation in terms of travel?

Mr. Kevin Leavy:

Yes. It had not in the past but it has become more of an issue recently. The homeless world cup is held every year and there must be a different team every year. A player can only represent in it once. Because they are expanding it, they are putting it on in different countries. In 2023, the first year after the pandemic, it was on in Sacramento in the US. One of our teams could not go because the officials would not forgive past indiscretions. There was no way the players were getting through customs. We only went with one team that year. That has been the biggest one. Everywhere else, leniency has been shown by the hosting country but that was an absolute wipeout. That is the biggest problem. It has become more and more of a thing as they expand the host countries.

Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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I asked that really because of a wider point around the issue. When we look at Box Clever, which I am big fan of as well and have visited, we ask people to build up capital within their recovery, or we ask them to access education or engage in programmes, but the fact is that we still have policies that stigmatise, shame and ensure those convictions will follow a person for the rest of their lives. It really impacts the capacity to fully realise and actualise the full breadth of what is available to someone in terms of their recovery.

To Mr. Loughlin, when you received support from the GPA and they made a referral for you, that was into public services, not into private services. Was it Cuan Mhuire?

Mr. Luke Loughlin:

Yes.

Ms Jennifer Rogers:

We have an MoU with Cuan Mhuire, which means we have access to a support worker within Cuan Mhuire who supports a lot of our members who need support with our recovery. We fund that as well.

Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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I was just thinking how beneficial and brilliant it is that this MoU and agreement exists between the GPA and treatment. It is something that does not exist in other sports, and I am going to say working class sports especially. GAA and hurling is so much wider and has so much diversity in it. I am thinking of boxing clubs specifically or soccer clubs in really working class areas where there is a huge concentration of substance dependency for various reasons. It would be good to link with the GPA and maybe connect it with other sports industries that do not have an MoU like that with services, to maybe look at how the GPA can share its knowledge and the breadth of its understanding in terms of how to develop that, so that more under-resourced community sports could build something like that as well. Is that something you have been doing? Could Ms Rogers speak a little bit more about that MoU? How often has it been used? Is it regularly utilised?

Ms Jennifer Rogers:

From our perspective, we are looking at elite amateur athletes so we are in a bit of a more privileged position than what the Senator is discussing there. We recognise the role we have in society and the role that inter-county players play and the privilege that comes with that. We are more than happy to work alongside other community organisations and provide support in whatever ways we can. The way that was developed was just through building relationships with Cuan Mhuire, recognising that there was an issue among some of our members who needed support and trying to work between the two of us in terms of how could we better support them and get them access to the support they needed as quickly as possible, and then when they complete their residential care, the follow-up care after that as well. We would be more than happy to link in with other bodies if we can advise or provide any guidance. I am conscious as well that we are not experts in this space. That is why we link in and collaborate with people who are experts in the space.

Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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It is even just the knowledge and understanding for the likes of the boxing authorities or other places to understand it is a possibility, that they are also not experts but there is a possibility to create those relationships and to learn how those relationships were developed.

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I offer huge thanks to all the organisations here and particularly to Mr. Loughlin, whose contribution was incredibly powerful. He acknowledged his role as a role model in sport and wider society, so telling that story has an enormous impact. I thank him for all that work.

We often talk about sport as a diversion from substance dependency, but I want to understand a bit more about the continuum from enhancing substances, like supplements and all that, into cocaine or other drug use. I am trying to get my head around this breakdown between sport and drugs as something recreational, and we spoke earlier about how there are fewer calories in drugs compared with alcohol or other recreation. Maybe Sport Ireland has an insight or knows whether research has been done on whether there is a continuum or whether drug use is purely recreational for sportspeople. The GPA might have a perspective on this as well.

Ms Mary Van Lieshout:

I thank the Deputy. Certainly we realise there is much more work to be done to understand this. The research being done by Planet Youth has shown a consistent association in those younger years, not only with sport and mental well-being, but, paradoxically, as I have said, alcohol and sport participation. We want to follow that up with much more qualitative evidence on how that is happening and what that pathway is. It is very important we do everything we can to promote understanding of what is acceptable and what is proscribed. It is through our anti-doping work we are hearing, again anecdotally, there are questions coming through to our anti-doping representatives and team asking whether cocaine is prohibited and are some of these illicit drugs prohibited in the same way. As such, we are aware of more work that needs to be done in our training packages on what is accepted and what is prohibited, including recreational drugs. Again, we refer to the regular and the associated authorities rather than this becoming some kind of a speciality or expertise of Sport Ireland. We are bounded by our statute. We remain within our education and training aware of this growing need and introducing into our programmes awareness raising while also making sure our partners, such as the local sports partnerships, the health services and the Department of Health, are made aware there is work to be done collaboratively across this.

I will hand over to the GPA to add to that.

Mr. Phelim Macken:

As an additional point, that is one of the key successes of the task forces. For example, in Limerick we sit on the Mid-West Regional Drugs and Alcohol Forum, and during a time the needle drop programme was being run in Limerick, one of the things we noticed was the high number of performance-enhancing needles that were coming into this needle drop and needle exchange programme. We worked in collaboration with the task force, with Professor Jim McVeigh from Manchester Metropolitan University and Dr. David Nolan from DCU, to put together a seminar for our clubs and our community groups, and especially our gyms, to raise awareness on that. We keep that material circulating into that space. Due to our connection to the task force, we were in a position to be able to have an action on that. As the lads have reiterated, we are not experts in this area but we are able to do elements, especially around education, and then get access to the experts to get those messages out there.

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I was really glad that Boxing Clever and especially Mr. Leavy's organisation raised the gender-specific aspect, because we do not talk about gender enough when we talk about substance dependency and abuse. I think 15% of women participate and the organisation has a clear link with the Dóchas Centre. Mr. Leavy might talk about the challenges of trying to encourage more women to participate in the street leagues. Sport all to often is seen as something male-dominated, but that needs to change, of course.

Mr. Kevin Leavy:

The problem is twofold. A lot of the women who are eligible to play for the street leagues have kids or are looking after someone as a carer or have jobs. Most people we deal with are on programmes, so we are kind of downstream and they are working on their issues and problems. A lot of them do not have the spare time and we have limited time we can put the leagues on because sometimes we are restricted with the venues in that there is only a specific amount of time in which you can hire them and we have a limited number of coaches. Women have a lot more demands on them. A lot of the males we have seem to be able to come as and when, though they do not come every week. It is not that structured with them.

Ms Frances Kavanagh:

It is very important we get the women involved. There was such a huge difference when we brought a female team with the lads, because the lads do not come out of themselves. It takes them a long time to trust people and to get involved. When we brought the women along, the dynamic totally changed. They mothered, kind of, the lads. There was more communication all around, but again the main problem was they may have children who are dependent on them. Their children may be in care and they only get them at a certain time. We brought one girl over and she brought her daughter. We were able to accommodate them where she had a room with her daughter, because she had nobody else to look after her. A lot of them have no family who can look after these children, so that is a big concern for us.

Mr. Kevin Leavy:

Their teammates become their family. That is not a cliché, it is reality. They remain in contact and support each other. The women, as Ms Kavanagh said, within five minutes of meeting were a team and were united. With the males, in our ten weeks of training up to the World Cup, you see a different person by week 10 but it is much slower. They are individuals who become a team.

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I do not want to ask another question but I pay tribute to the brilliant work of Boxing Clever because it powerfully makes the point that many women cannot take up the residential option. It is not an option for them. As an alternative this is a fantastic project. I pay tribute to the work and hope it expands. Obviously those involved have clear recommendations for the committee so I thank them for that.

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank all the witnesses and their organisations for the work they are doing. Without those organisations we would not have the sports infrastructure we do. One of the things that strikes me is that something like 90% of the people before the juvenile District Court at any time are not involved in any sports organisation, physical activity or any club. Something that came across to me very much when I was the Minister of State dealing with the opening of the Merchants Quay supervised injection facility was the lack of access to funding in poorer areas where there is not the same expertise to follow up the grants and they do not have a mechanism for giving support there. Is there is something we could do at national or local authority level and in individual organisations to put a support mechanism in place to help areas like that access the funding, because without funding you cannot have the facilities? There is a huge problem in some areas where we do not have adequate facilities. Is there something we really need to look at from the point of view of helping those areas?

Mr. Phelim Macken:

If I can lead on that, when the sports capital programme was out originally in the paper format, it was quite a challenging piece of work for a lot of communities. It depended on who the volunteers and committee members were in those communities to lead on those. Other sports maybe had more qualified professionals leading them and being volunteers, meaning they had a better understanding, whereas some of the other communities may not have had the same level of expertise and probably had people who did a lot of labour work, etc., traditionally.

Maybe the funding applications were not really written to the merit they should have been to support those communities. As that evolved, workshops were provided by sports partnerships and other organisations, particularly the governing bodies of sport themselves, to try to help people in that process. When we transitioned to the online sports capital register, OSCAR, system, it actually became more user-friendly, believe it or not, because one of the unfortunate barriers for many people originally was documents were missed or boxes were not ticked and valuable pieces of information were left out, whereas in the OSCAR system, you cannot go from one section to the other if there is something missing. That has helped. More workshops should be delivered by the sports capital unit, to make people aware and then to connect them into organisations like the sports partnerships. We would offer that support to clubs during that process, if they needed assistance.

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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Do we need to identify areas where there is not the expertise to deal with it and provide that support? It occurred to me very much in relation to Merchants Quay, where we had a local school with more than 180 children with very little access to any kind of sports facilities at all and no mechanism for helping that. I am concerned we are not doing enough in that area and that we all need to work together on it. It is about putting it together, both within the organisations but also at central and local government level.

Ms Mary Van Lieshout:

Sport Ireland is working closely with the Office of the Planning Regulator to identify, as we have this significant investment in new housing, areas where this housing is going in and how we can make sure we are building communities, not just houses, so that there are appropriate sports facilities. That is leading us into work around identifying demand for sports facilities currently and where we are not meeting that demand. That work has only just initiated with the national conversation on housing development and investment, but we hope it will help us, going into the future, to identify much more clearly communities that are being left behind by sport infrastructure.

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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What is the target date for having something in place to deal with that?

Ms Mary Van Lieshout:

The Deputy will have to give me a pass on that because the work has simply started. Having said that, the Office of the Planning Regulator is very ambitious about this and has put very ambitious timeframes in front of us. We have dedicated people within our research and data analytics team to support that initiative. It is not years; it is very contemporary.

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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I will ask one another question in relation to clubs, and it is a totally different issue. Where clubs know there is a member who is actively dealing or providing access to drugs to other members of a club, have clubs been trained as regards how to carefully manage a situation like that in order to steer the person who is involved in that in the right direction? It is obviously a very difficult process and I wonder if we have done enough in that whole area. Do any of the organisations have a mechanism for dealing with that, where they know someone is involved and, as a result, people are afraid to challenge it?

Mr. Kevin Leavy:

We do not have that provision. As I mentioned, we tend to be downstream and have people who are on programmes who come to us from agencies. Quite often, if the agency is aware that something is happening, it will stop the player coming to us. We have got what are called social coaches on our team. Their job is to see if a particular player is mentally ready for the challenges of the football and the competitions, because sometimes the players have the ability but they may not be ready for the attention they are going to get. We have people who can monitor it there. We have not had any incidents of anyone dealing because the ones who turn up are keen. It does mean some people probably drop out and might have gone back, but within our environment, it has never been an issue. Our coaches have all gone through the process or the programme themselves, and they are very vigilant about what is going on. We are not a typical club in that sense.

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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Does Mr. Leavy think more work should be done in this area to help people who are involved at a voluntary level in clubs and organisations?

Mr. Kevin Leavy:

Yes, I do. There was reference to community and connections, that we could all connect a bit more with each other rather than working in little silos. Wherever we can do that in whatever area, it is a good thing.

Mr. Phelim Macken:

The current mechanism that will come through the sports partnership is, if the national governing body of that sport does not have a process, it will come to us, and then it is that signposting piece to the experts, be it a community substance misuse team or the task force in Limerick, so that there are these professionals who are able to put a process in place with them, which, thankfully, leads to an educational model that is then requested for the club, whether it is a coaches' meeting or a seminar or a parent, players and coaches workshop. We have seen many different examples of that across different sports in Limerick.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I thank Mr. Macken. Senator Costello has been very eager to get in.

Teresa Costello (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the witnesses for being here. I really enjoyed listening to their statements. First, the Irish Homeless Street Leagues representatives know I am very familiar with the organisation, and I have seen first hand the contribution it makes to people's lives. I know people who have availed of its club and are thriving being a part of it.

I really connected to what Mr. Loughlin said. As a sports lover myself, my opinion on sports generally is that, if people are involved in sports, they do not fall into the trap of drugs as quickly. It is a key piece in keeping kids away from drugs. Mr. Loughlin mentioned the absence of a parent earlier in his childhood and the void it had. Does he think that was more of a contributing factor to falling into addiction, rather than being supported by his teammates? He was in an environment where he had friends and belonged, but does he think that void was what turned him to addiction?

Mr. Luke Loughlin:

I thank the Senator. I am cutting into the first question a small bit. Regardless of what sport I did, the lack of a parent was traumatic to me and my situation. As I went along, I always felt different, and I was always looking for some sort of attention, positive or negative. As I got older, it obviously snowballed. I do not think it would have mattered what sport I was in or what I was doing. Regardless, if I did not get professional help I probably would have suffered with the same stuff. I cannot really blame sport for my-----

Teresa Costello (Fianna Fail)
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Does Mr. Loughlin think sport actually contributed to giving him the strength of character to have a successful recovery? Does he think the tools he learned from being involved in sport built him up to be the person he is? If he had not had sport in his life but had this void, things would have been much different?

Mr. Luke Loughlin:

I am not really sure. I would like to think it would it would have been different because the GAA in particular is very forgiving. They love a good story. In Westmeath there are not too many good stories all the time. I am very lucky that I have had no real negative feedback from what I did. I made mistakes in my life that I will always have shame and guilt over, but as I said, I am trying to be a better person. Using my story to help people learn from my experience is what I am doing at the minute. I am very grateful to the GAA. I am lucky I work in it. With the younger kids especially, that is where I probably was missing out on something, so if I can try to be that person for as many as I can while obviously looking after my own recovery as number one, that is very important to me. I do not think I would have been able to do what I have done without the GAA and GPA.

Teresa Costello (Fianna Fail)
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With those kinds of comments regarding the exposure to drugs, is it more sports performance enhancing drugs that the real exposure is to rather than recreational?

People have mentioned that cocaine use does not lead to weight gain. As someone who played sport, I cannot imagine a scenario where people are taking cocaine coming up to a match because they are not going to put on weight. I just cannot connect with that. I love boxing and am involved in a boxing club in Tallaght. The work they do with kids, in an environment where the club can often be the only place where kids feel validation and a real connection to adults, is great. If I was in addiction and I wanted help, how would I connect with Boxing Clever to be part of one of their programmes?

Ms Triona Byrne:

I thank the Senator for her question. Our programme is a little bit different from the Ballymun version. Each Boxing Clever programme is a slight variation on the original which started in Ballymun. Our programme is community based and is not involved in service provision whereas where Karl works there are in-house key workers. We do not have that available to the participants on our programme. We very much rely on working with our partners in the community. We are linked in with a lot of the services. People can also self-refer into the programme. Most of our referrals are actually self-referrals. They are people who have heard about the programme and who may have had a previous interest in sport before they fell into addiction. They are trying to find a way to build healthier habits and they tend to refer themselves. It is then an interview process where we look at people's willingness to commit for 20 weeks. That is how people engage with us.

Teresa Costello (Fianna Fail)
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How many players have actually come to the GPA looking for support? What is involved in the anti-doping regime? Is there much testing being carried out?

Ms Jennifer Rogers:

I do not have the exact figures on that but I can provide those through the clerk to the committee at a later date. In terms of anti-doping, all inter-county players are required to undergo anti-doping education every year and are all subject to testing at any point. Performance-enhancing or recreational drug use is not a huge issue. In terms of players who are accessing our services for counselling support and residential care, in 2024 we had 119 new referrals to our counselling support service and delivered over 700 counselling sessions and we had four players go through residential care for addiction, predominantly for gambling addiction.

Teresa Costello (Fianna Fail)
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I can understand that, as someone who played football. Players are competitive and gambling pulls them in.

I will finish with a comment, if I may. Most of the people I know who are in recovery turn to sport or religion and they always want to give back and support others. It is brilliant to see people like Mr. Loughlin sharing his story and using his lived experience to help others. I do not believe that people who have not been through it and who have not experienced the challenges can fully understand and help as much as someone who has that lived experience.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Some of us are like the GAA in the sense that we like a good story and a good example and fair play to Mr. Loughlin for that. As Senator Ní Chuilinn said earlier, we have always had a bad relationship with drink and now drugs have fallen into that space. There are particular issues, obviously, in working-class areas but there is just a prevalence across society that is absolutely brutal. While sport is absolutely fabulous in terms of connectivity, purpose and so on, it is not shocking that those engaged in sport get caught up in this. The GPA is a very particular type of organisation and is obviously very organised in relation to this and is ahead of the game, as the GAA tends to be in many cases. The GPA has a memorandum of understanding with Cuan Mhuire. What level of need has the organisation been dealing with and what sort of framework has it developed to deal with it?

Ms Jennifer Rogers:

What we are very aware of is that there is still a significant stigma, especially for elite GAA players who get additional public scrutiny and attention. We are very aware that there possibly are more of our members who need support but they are not seeking it from us. In terms of the actual figures, we had four players who went through residential treatment in 2024. The memorandum of understanding with Cuan Mhuire was a recognition that our players were less likely to seek support given that stigma and public scrutiny.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Has everyone who has come to the organisation looked for a residential programme?

Ms Jennifer Rogers:

No. We have a counselling service available as well and some of our members get in touch to look for counselling support. Again, that is all confidential. We provide counselling directly through the GPA or players can avail of confidential, independent counselling. We provide the latter service to try to address that barrier of getting in touch with someone through the GPA. We had 119 new referrals to our counselling services in 2024 for a range of different issues.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Would Mr. Loughlin have found the process relatively painless? When he went to the GPA, did it facilitate everything and get him to where he needed to be? It probably took about ten years of failed attempts before he got there.

Mr. Luke Loughlin:

Yes. Obviously, on a personal level, I was very lucky. This was ongoing for a few years. I recognised that I was struggling with problems. A couple of times I had gone to the GPA for counselling but obviously I was not ready to get help then. I was obviously in denial. This had gone on for a while, under different managers and I was in a position where it was easier to lie and say that there was nothing going on. When I reached my rock bottom and was ready to get help, the GPA was straight in there and I was in a treatment centre the next day. Any time I have ever needed anything since then, and even previously, it is sorted by the GPA within a matter of days. I have been very lucky to be able to avail of counselling and support on the personal development side of things.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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That is a hell of an endorsement.

Obviously there is a wider piece of work that needs to be done in society. There are millions of different stories and as elected representatives, we have all had people come to us. At times we have used the public system but more times than not, we have used unofficial connections with someone or have contacted someone who can get people in sideways into treatment, whether residential or community-based programmes. Sometimes they work and sometimes they do not. Sometimes it takes a number of attempts. The issue is to make sure that access to services is provided across the board.

Boxing Clever works with Red Door in Drogheda. In general, some clubs are more organised than others. In some clubs there is an holistic framework, while in others the programmes utilise partners. Is there a protocol when someone shows up in the throes of addiction? How does Boxing Clever deal with them? Is the organisation dealing with a cohort of people who have already started their journey before they are referred to it?

Mr. Karl O'Brien:

We have an assessment process in place and we aim to work with people at different stages of change. We have people who may be at a particular point in their recovery journey and are substance free. A high percentage of the group would be managed in that space. We also believe in working with people who are not at that particular point in their journey. There is a lot that people can learn from each other in terms of the processes, supports and networks that can be developed. That work has been ongoing since the programme began. We have challenged the traditional norms in the sense of not keeping people who are substance-free on one side of the room and those who are still trying to navigate their relationship with substances on the other side. We have joined the groups together.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I imagine that more people come to the organisation than it can actually deal with across the board. What is the situation in that regard? There is a huge need out there. I imagine that a lot of people make their way to the doors of Boxing Clever. Can it deal with all of them?

Mr. Karl O'Brien:

Boxing Clever is one part of a menu. In our organisation in Ballymun we have a range of services that provide a continuum of care.

We have a low-threshold point of entry and an abstinence-based recovery group. That suite of options is available for people. Boxing Clever offers one part of that journey.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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It is all very positive. We need more of it and need it outside of sporting organisations. There is another conversation to be had about what happens to someone when, say, a junior championship happens. It is probably no different from how people celebrate an awful lot of other things. We wish it was done differently.

On the homeless street leagues set up in Dundalk and Drogheda, I have even played a couple of games, obviously in abstinence. It is brilliant and positive. It provides connectivity. It is generally a time in people's lives when many more supports are required and they are not always in existence.

Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the witnesses for coming in. It is easy to read through the presentations but it is great to hear the witnesses' experiences. I congratulate them on the great services they provide. What I got from the presentations is the huge potential for sport to play a positive role in prevention and recovery. The message I got from listening to them all was about the importance of connections as the complete opposite of addiction. Those are connections to yourself, your team, the wider community and the supports that are there. That really resonated. It is a way to deal with it, win, lose or draw. We have all been at the side of pitches with kids crying because they lose. They learn a coping mechanism through sports. Then there is the high when the win comes.

I commend Mr. Loughlin on coming in here today. He is an inspiration to other players. I wish him the very best in his continued recovery. As others have said, mind yourself first. You are doing great.

I have questions for the GPA. The presentations were so fulfilling and many questions have been asked already. There are challenges around advertising, particularly now with zero-alcohol beers being advertised as a way for people to still show their branding and associate it with different companies and everything else. How do we overcome that? Is there a role for the Government to give that advertising funding to sports clubs so they are not losing so much? Is there a way around it? Second, what supports does the GPA provide at local level? Are there supports for local clubs and at county level? The GAA is in every community and all my adult kids play for various clubs. There were always huge supports, training and education there. Because this has become such a problem, what is the GPA doing proactively to support those?

Ms Jennifer Rogers:

That is something the GAA is probably more heavily involved in than the GPA. The GAA is doing a lot of work in this space through its community and health departments. It has taken a strong stance on advertising from gambling organisations and alcohol. We have been very much in support of that. Being the organisation we are, we are often approached by companies from different backgrounds to fund initiatives and we are very selective about who we engage with. It depends on where the funding is coming from. We and the GAA have taken quite a strong stance in terms of not accepting funding from gambling organisations and alcohol companies. I cannot speak from the GAA perspective but from the GPA point of view, it is something we are very strong on. We see the damage that can be done as a result and it is not something we would engage with. I do not know if that answers your question.

Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)
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Absolutely, it does. On the homeless street leagues, I visited the Spellman Centre and saw at first hand the great work being done. Football is a central part of the recovery programme there. I would also like to mention Dionne Lyons from Oliver Bond House, who got her first cap, which made her a local hero, quite rightly.

Mr. Phelim Macken:

A superstar.

Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)
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Yes, a superstar. One of the challenges around recovery is encouraging women to reach out and make contact. Many women I have spoken to had issues with care for children or did not have the time. It is easier for men - I am not being sexist here but it is. It is always the women who are left looking after kids or other family members. There is sometimes a fear that by looking for help, it might be determined that they are not able to look after their kids. How do the witnesses work on attracting more women into the homeless street leagues while facing the challenges they face?

Mr. Phelim Macken:

We have done something this year which is new. We are in a partnership with Rethink Ireland and it has helped us to double the number of leagues. Most of the leagues we have had up until this year have been our regular established evening leagues but with the Rethink money we have created community street leagues, which are set up during the day in partnership with the various people I mentioned in my opening statement. When we are with them, it is shared work between us and the agencies to get more women involved. Our female coach is also the woman who runs the community street league programme for us. She is constantly reaching out to other agencies. She contacted two more this week which we are hoping to get something going with next week. It is about making contact, speaking to people, going out and having talks, engaging with them and telling them we are not rigid. We are there to try to find a slot that will suit their lives. That is the approach we have at the moment.

There does seem to be more males out there who are committed to doing the football. It is their passion. Going back to something Senator Costello mentioned, I think that the players we have, if they did not have the sport, their lives would be in a much worse situation than they are now. Going back to the women, we have to show flexibility. We are restricted because we only have a certain number of coaches and they are only available at certain times so it is about trying to find the right time.

We had a slightly depressing case recently where someone was leaving a programme and going back home to Portarlington. She asked if we had any leagues in the area, and we do not. I would love to have one in every town in Ireland but we do not. Now I wonder how she is. I might have a word with Ms Rogers and see if there are any GAA things going on. This is about connecting. The people who are into football are also into other sports. There might be a local GAA club. That is why we talk about connecting within ourselves as well to try-----

Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)
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Most of the GAA clubs now have Gaelic4Mothers&Others so there are loads of groups. Thanks for that.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I am sorry. Deputy Graves's time is up. I am next. We will come back to her. Thanks a million to all the contributors so far. It has been really fascinating. Nobody listening can be in any doubt about the incredible work the witnesses do. How much would that work be benefited or impacted by the decriminalisation of people who take drugs in this country?

Mr. Kevin Leavy:

We have already touched on with Senator Ruane how it would help access getting to tournaments and stuff.

Mr. Phelim Macken:

We run the Boxing Clever programme every year and we also have community sports hubs in areas of disadvantage. A big part of all that is education and looking at employability for people or a pathway into higher education, QQI-level courses. If they do a QQI level 5 with us around community addiction studies and health-related fitness, we want them to be able to put that into practice.

We are looking at opportunities as to how they can work with us in the sports partnership in delivering community-based programmes. Vetting is essential as part of that. We have a system so that when the vetting disclosures come back, a sub-committee made up of our board members looks at those convictions in relation to the severity level and the duration. For some of them, it is something that happened ten years ago. The person has completely changed their life and is no longer in addiction or drinking alcohol, so there are mitigating circumstances. We are then able to put that person in a supported environment to start this. For others who do fantastic coming through our programmes, unfortunately, their disclosures prevent them from being able to be involved in that capacity for us. They are doing so well in one element but there are other elements. Again, as Senator Ruane mentioned, there is the categorisation of it, which means more serious crimes do not allow a way forward.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I am conscious of the work that Ms Rogers does in the GPA. If an elite amateur athlete comes forward and declares they have a problem, which takes extraordinary courage, there are two barriers. One is the fear of prosecution in some instances but also, within the rules of the GPA, does it mean they have to take time out from playing while they recover? How does that work?

Ms Jennifer Rogers:

We have not had any instances where a player has been tested or has been caught and had to take time out in recent years, so it is not something I have dealt with personally. There are rules on anti-doping. If somebody is in violation, there are consequences associated with that. It is not something I have dealt with directly. It is a deterrent for a lot of our members at the elite level that the testing process is there. They also have to engage with the education piece every year as part of their membership of an intercounty panel. It is not something I have dealt with directly.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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Several of the witnesses spoke about education and Mr. Macken spoke about the Let’s Talk About Drugs programme. Will he tell us about that programme, its contents, how it is measured over the course of the years and how we gauge its success or failure? One of our next sessions is on education.

Mr. Phelim Macken:

Our understanding of that programme is through our participation in the Mid-West Regional Drugs and Alcohol Forum, so we are familiar with their work. I sit on the education and prevention sub-committee as part of that. They have recruited one of our staff down through the years as part of their team of people going into the schools to give that awareness talk and education piece. As I mentioned, one of our officers is also delivering the GAA Healthy Clubs model. Again, for the schools, the clubs or the community groups, it is that awareness piece and that signposting piece. It was not about us as experts, but about being able to share where the avenues are for people and connecting them to where they will get that professional support if they need it. Every year, some of the clubs have an awareness workshop, whereas other clubs only have these workshops if there is an incident or something has come to the attention of the club. It is about using all the educational awareness models that are out there and then linking them to the relevant groups.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I want to ask Ms Byrne about the expansion of the programme model and the work that is being done through the drugs task forces. We can recognise how brilliant the Boxing Clever programme is. How do we work collectively to expand it? What supports would that need?

Ms Triona Byrne:

In the last year or so, we have set up a network committee of all the different Boxing Clever programmes. That has been like a community of practice for us because we were all a little like lone wolves, out delivering in our own different areas. We do not want to completely standardise the programme because it is important for it to be adapted to the local situation. However, we recognise that we need to invest more time and effort in that network, having a communications strategy and maybe having a more robust training programme for people to deliver Boxing Clever. There is a lot of interest in Boxing Clever and many different communities are interested in rolling it out. We would like to see a more robust model so they can stick to the fidelity of the model that exists.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I cannot thank Mr. Loughlin enough for coming in and giving us his experience, which is very helpful for us and also for anybody watching this. Is there anything he thinks the State could have done better in terms of supporting him in that journey? I am conscious that he has had amazing people beside him. Is there something the State could have done better in terms of access to supports that were not potentially available and should be available for the next person in his situation?

Mr. Luke Loughlin:

I am not sure how to answer that. Perhaps Ms Rogers has something to add.

Ms Jennifer Rogers:

Based on Luke's specific example, what we are seeing is the need to support family members. Luke mentioned in his statement that his mother was trying to support him for more than ten years when there were other children and family members to look after. What we often find with our members is the impact this has on family members, and there is no support for them despite that impact. That would definitely be worth improving and looking at. I am sure others in the room could speak to that a lot better than I can.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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We move to our second round of questions. I call Senator Ní Chuilinn.

Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael)
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I want to come back to the talk of a memorandum of understanding, which is very interesting. The GPA was set up by players for players, which is a very specific cohort. Obviously, RPI and the PFAI are also there, but it is a small cohort of people, not just a small cohort of players, that would have access to the supports. Is there a more widespread way of having that joined-up thinking across different sports? I am looking at Mr. Macken. I do not want to give him more work but I wonder about the tentacles the Limerick Sports Partnership has all over the country. Is this something that could be looked at as a model of communication or care for people who are involved in sport in local areas but are also suffering from addiction? Could there be a pathway through the LSP, via an MoU, to somewhere like Cuan Mhuire? I am thinking on the spot. It is a very good idea but there is very limited access for people.

Mr. Phelim Macken:

I agree 100%. That is one of the advantages and disadvantages of sports partnerships. As I said in my opening statement, we have a remit from preschool to older adults. We are about 24 years in existence and we have evolved from a staffing perspective. For many years, we had two in Limerick whereas we now have almost 20. Again, it is because of those needs. We have dedicated officers for chronic conditions, a dedicated officer for Sport 4 Empowerment and a dedicated officer for youth. There are more and more of those needs. It is a case of looking at how much we can achieve in relation to sedentary populations, people with low participation levels and that association with the very marginalised and disadvantaged.

There are so many elements that lead to sedentary behaviour and people not being involved in sport. Some of it is through addiction, some of it is mental health, some of it is confidence, some of it is trauma and some is due to the environments they live in. We have a remit around sport and physical activity but the reason we are now so broad in our reach is because of all the associated factors that are leading to people being inactive.

There is a mechanism, if it was resourced and staffed. Our ESF officers are in there, using sport for social change, but the key ingredient for them was that they did not have huge numbers every year in their outputs. They have a small cohort of people, with very dedicated objectives around employability and education, and they are able to invest that time in people. A lot of our development officer work is that collective, broader piece, whereas our dedicated ESF officer is more targeted, but at fewer people. Some 56,000 people went through our programmes in 2024. If our ESF officer had 150 out of all of that, it would have been a huge workload and work package in a year, whereas another officer could have had 20,000, depending on what target area they worked with.

It is about the dedicated time to be able to do that but also what support services are in their area. The reason we are involved in Boxing Clever is that we are part of the Mid-West Regional Drugs and Alcohol Forum.

We are fortunate to have a good committee there. We run that programme for €20,000 annually. That is not a huge amount of investment, but we are able to run it at the level because of the expertise within our Limerick Sports Partnership team whose members are able to do elements of it. That scoping capacity is there, if it is resourced. We have that reach into all areas and communities but we cannot always be seen as all things for everybody. We are, however, doing it as best we can at the moment.

Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael)
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I understand. I did not mean to put extra work on Limerick Sports Partnership, but it is something I might have a look at. Ms Van Lieshout should not be surprised if she hears from me.

Ms Mary Van Lieshout:

It might be worth highlighting to the committee that the Dormant Accounts Fund has really supported the local sports partnerships and national governing bodies at reaching the most socially excluded populations. It is not quick or easy work and it needs to be sustained. However, as I think everyone appreciates, dormant accounts funding peaked in 2022-23 and it is on the decline in spite of increasing need. If we are to reduce the gradient of the participation of these really hard to reach excluded groups, we need to continue that investment. It needs to be sustained. How we can continue to support and finance that hard work of these groups on the ground is something for the committee to consider. We need to make sure that we do not lose sight of that.

Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)
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I have a couple of quick questions as I ran out of time on the previous occasion. Similar to the question earlier about encouraging women into the sport, has Boxing Clever looked at alternatives or does it have a partnership with other groups? Is there an opportunity for childcare facilities to help people participate?

Ms Triona Byrne:

I can only speak to our experience of rolling out the Boxing Clever programme in the past two years. It has probably been 50-50 male and female who signed up for the programme. There has been huge interest from women who want to get involved. However, our drop-off rate is probably higher among females. It has been predominantly due to parental responsibilities, whether it be childcare or, as someone else mentioned, if a mother has just got her children back she has to prioritise her home responsibilities. There is definitely something there.

We are also very mindful to make sure that the programme starts at a time that allows school drop-offs and pick-ups to still happen. We are conscious of the gender issue and that there seem to be more parental responsibilities on the females who get involved in Boxing Clever. We do still see the barriers. Childcare will always be an issue across the board with addiction services, but hopefully we will see more targeted childcare positions for people who are looking for treatment.

Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)
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I asked because it is an issue that is raised in the context of all of the other services. In her opening statement, Ms Van Lieshout said that the data from the Planet Youth survey "highlights a paradox, whereby participation in sport is positively correlated with alcohol consumption in adolescence". Will she expand on that a little bit?

Ms Mary Van Lieshout:

The paradox is that sport is positively associated with positive mental health and at the same time we are seeing a correlation between the use of alcohol within adolescent populations who are also involved in sport. That is what I mean by the paradox. This is research that is coming from an Icelandic initiative called Planet Youth that has been carried out in three counties in Ireland. As I said earlier, we are determined to continue to explore this association to understand the pathways and, for example, the possible associations with after-sports celebrations to understand how we can impact on making sure that sport is not a pathway to early initiation of alcohol use. We are in the early days. In my opening statement, I mentioned that this is preliminary in terms of our full understanding of these associations, but we are determined to find more information around the experience of adolescents and what the association is.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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If the witnesses feel that there is anything they have not had an opportunity to say or any point they would like to reiterate, they are welcome to take that time now. I do not think there is anything that has been left unsaid. It was a comprehensive and detailed meeting. It was great to be here. I thank the witnesses for coming in and lending us their expertise. We will certainly benefit from it in terms of the work this committee does.