Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is absolutely correct. I want to be clear to all the national governing bodies, including the big national governing bodies that, to be fair, are doing a lot for sport and women in sport. To be clear, the grant funding to those organisations is now closely aligned to our key policies, one of which is the achievement of 40% gender balance with female representation on the boards of NGBs. I have met some of these bodies - not all - and the importance of this has been on my agenda in every conversation I had so far.

This is only one step, albeit a very important step. If this target is not reached, there is no doubt there will be significant funding issues for those NGBs. My officials are beginning discussions with Sport Ireland as to how we do this. There is a range of funding sources from Sport Ireland, the Government, Irish Athletic Boxing Association and all levels that would be affected by this. We must support women in sport at every level; that is a start. However, we have to encourage women and allow them to come up through the ranks in organisations. That will be equally important.

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