Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister has already heard, last Thursday evening, Sport Ireland issued new guidelines stating young people and their coaches who are not vaccinated cannot participate in indoor sporting matches without vaccination. I spoke to a number of families but will refer to one family in particular. Their 17-year-old son has been training both on his own and with his teammates over the last two years, although mostly on his own. He went to a match in the parochial hall in Gurranabraher in Cork last Saturday, only to be refused entry. The young man was distraught, as were his family and his teammates, because he could not go inside. This came as a great blow to him, his parents and all his teammates.

This leaves coaches, the vast majority of whom are volunteers, in the very uncomfortable and unfair position whereby they have to turn away young people at the door because of guidelines issued at the last moment. These guidelines should have been issued at the start. Sport Ireland should have ensured they were in place.

Once again, those engaged in indoor sport feel they are an afterthought when it comes to the protocols and restrictions for the return to sport. Can something be done to meet Sport Ireland to discuss basketball and any other sports that have been affected and ensure that a solution is found so that young people can get back to playing and enjoying their games?

I have been told this week that Sciath na Scol in Cork which, for anyone who does not know, involves Gaelic games for children, has been postponed until the new year. I was in my club, St. Vincent's, last night where loads of kids were training outdoors. The same children were going into school today, but cannot play Gaelic games in their schools. It is an outdoor activity which we are telling people is the safest way to exercise. How does it make sense that every GAA club in the country is playing matches at the weekend but none of the schools can? Schools are organising challenge matches. Games are still going ahead, but the competitions are not. Who is making these decisions? If it is right for children to play in club matches, why can the same not happen in schools?

Last week Dr. Ronan Glynn advised parents to cut back on their children's after-school activities, something I found unbelievable. I am a person who has supported all of the public health advice and encouraged everyone to get vaccinated, sanitise their hands and keep the 2 m rule. I have been very supportive of making sure everyone stays safe. I am a coach and administrator. Approximately one in five children have not come back to our club after the pandemic. Different sporting organisations are trying to get children and young people back to sports because we know how vital it is for their mental health and social skills. The statements being released are contradictory to what the health advice is. Young people have been put through enough. My daughter is in a class of 33 children for five or six hours a day. She cannot go into a field and play Gaelic games with her school. This does not make sense. It is not fair and it needs to be sorted out.

On 17 May 2020, the then Taoiseach, and current Tánaiste, Deputy Leo Varadkar, said in the Chamber that we must try to find, isolate, test and care for every case and trace every contact. We are not trying to find contacts in schools. We are not even trying to contact trace children any more. This is a bad message to send out to children because it is confusing, out of touch with reality and chaotic.

This is not the first time the Government has sent out mixed messages. There is a kind of chaos around what people are being told. We need to give people clear guidance. Many families have elderly parents and grandparents. They may have vulnerable family members who might be scared because without knowing where Covid is how can they protect them? It is time to stop dithering and burying our heads in the sand, and make clear decisions to put ordinary people first.

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