Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Government has dedicated funding for women's sport over many years with considerable Exchequer funding allocated to programmes aimed at encouraging women's active and social participation in sport. I would highlight in this regard the Sport Ireland women in sport programme established in 2005 which has provided funding for sport of more than €20 million to a broad range of programmes aimed at increasing participation of women and girls. I am an enthusiastic supporter of the Federation of Irish Sport 20X20 campaign. The Minister and I already have had discussions to support this initiative. We had a recent meeting with Mary O'Connor, CEO of the Federation of Irish Sport, who is very involved in this campaign.

I am aware that sporting associations in several countries have decided to bring into line payments of their international men's and women's teams. This is a welcome if long overdue change. I encourage all our sporting bodies to consider this and more broadly the parity of treatment of international men and women's teams at senior and junior levels.

In respect of the sporting body referred to by the Deputy, the national governing body of sport respects the autonomy of all the associations, competitions and selection of teams. Payments to international players is a matter for the association itself. We do not have a specific role in determining the level of payments for international teams selected by this or any other national governing body.

It is important, however, to recognise that when members of the international team referred to by the Deputy highlighted the challenges in their remunerations and conditions, the issue was raised with the association on several occasions. In 2018, the then Minister provided additional funding to support the women's international team. In 2019, despite a number of challenges, the Department and Sport Ireland made arrangements to ensure the funding allocated to the women's international team was dispersed to it specifically and used to support its preparations for international fixtures.

I thank the Deputy for highlighting this important issue. The Minister and I will be engaging with the FAI and the 20X20 campaign to ensure this is addressed. The programme for Government specifically highlights the importance of women's participation in sport. It will also be highlighted in the context of an international and national basis.

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