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

I thank the Deputy. Specific guidance, as I said in my initial reply, has been developed for international travel and I referred to a number of the medals that our international athletes have won. We are doing everything to support our athletes who are going to Tokyo. I recognise and accept that the current restrictive regime is a great disappointment for many sports and that they are limited at the present time. To be clear, I have not written to any "big" anything or big three. Every national governing body which engages with Sport Ireland has been written to, each and every one of them, small, big and medium-sized. We want to hear from them all about tailoring solutions and about the broader return to sport and competition. That is the appropriate thing to do so that we can try to maximise the return to sport while also recognising the risk.

We have also seen, for example, where a number of written submissions have been made, looking at all of the available evidence and data for the purpose of informing the development of tailored proposals and approaches for future mitigating measures. It is my objective that such submissions would enable the Government to review and adapt a suite of public health measures currently applying to sport and exercise activities. I anticipate that the issue of resuming competitions and leagues will also form part of that review. The challenge of ensuring the most effective possible preparation for the rescheduled Tokyo games is also a key dimension in this.

We are also looking beyond the Tokyo games and at our athletes who will hopefully be there competing in the Olympics in four years time. We want to see our pathway athletes funded and supported and see them continue to train and participate in this period. We also want to facilitate all of the athletes and young people across our communities who want to get back to some degree of competition. Many of them are currently training. We want to tailor proposals to do what we can with sport in the context of the public health pandemic but also to look at the comparative European and international picture for sport and using that data so that we can maximise the return to sport. That is what I am anxious to deliver and I am happy to work with the Deputy on that issue.

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