Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is no part of Irish society that has not been impacted by this pandemic. Unfortunately, the response to the different sectors has been far from fair and equal, particularly in the sporting community. The rules and regulations on a return to sport during this pandemic have seldom been seen to treat all sports equally. We saw it last month with the sudden decision to allow only vaccinated children aged between 12 and 17 years to play indoor sports. This decision caused much pressure and stress on coaches and volunteers across the State and they turned children away from training and matches. Thankfully, the Minister eventually saw sense, engaged with stakeholders and rescinded the decision.

On Monday, I was delighted to see a major investment in sport of nearly €80 million to help sporting organisations recover from the impact of the pandemic. However, once we dig into the figures, we cannot help but feel a sense of disappointment and unfairness because there is an ever-growing gap for sporting organisations beyond the GAA, the IRFU and the FAI, which are being treated particularly generously compared to smaller sports. The vast majority of sporting organisations are being treated like an afterthought when it comes to funding. For example, Basketball Ireland, a sporting organisation with a higher than average level of female participation, certainly significantly better than rugby, and an organisation with over 250 clubs spread right across the island, received just slightly over €1 million in the funding announced on Monday. While this funding is to be welcomed, and I am sure it will make use of every cent, that funding pales in comparison with what the IRFU will receive. The IRFU has about 50 clubs across the island and whole chunks of the island have no rugby clubs present at all, yet it will receive 17 times the funding that Basketball Ireland receives. We have to ask where is the logic in this. The funding allocation gives the impression that rugby is 17 times more popular than basketball but club numbers do not reflect this. We need to see funding that reflects sporting participation, not funding based on who can lobby the best. We need a sports facilities strategy and we need to see fair play in Irish sports funding.

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