Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I appreciate the reply. I acknowledge the wonderful work that is done by sporting organisations across all sporting disciplines, as well as youth services around the country. They make a massive difference in people's lives. I tabled this question this because I think there is potential to do more in terms of using the capital and community infrastructure that is in place in the context of the sporting world to try to provide even more services in areas where there are no services outside the immediate primary sporting function of organisations. I am cognisant of the fact that many young people are not engaged in sport. How do we provide services for such young people? At present, if they are not engaged in sport, there is very little else for them. Can we leverage the network of sporting organisations around the country to create something for those young people and include them, although not in the primary sporting sense? A holistic inclusion model would be very achievable, given the massive networks that exist in every community.

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