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

I thank Deputy Hourigan. In many nurseries and clubs across the country, the increase in female participation has been so positive. We are seeing this across so many sports but, as the Deputy said, there is attrition, particularly in the teenage years. That creates the participation gap. Sport Ireland has an Irish sports monitor that produces quarterly reports and examines the gender gap. A priority of mine and of the Minister is to abolish the gender gap when it comes to participation and to track the attrition, particularly in the teenage years. It is also a question of trying to promote participation throughout adulthood. There is a lot of oversight and research by Sport Ireland to ensure active participation so women and girls will be given opportunities to stay in sport. We must track the trends in disadvantaged communities and places where participation levels might be lower and address the issue. We are committed to that.

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