Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government commits to a better quality of life and to addressing the cost-of-living crisis. One aspect of quality of life is access to sports events. It may be of interest to the Taoiseach to know that the biggest Republic of Ireland soccer supporters network is a group called the Ballybrack Seagulls, which has had an arrangement with the Football Association of Ireland, FAI, for the last ten years under which it buys season tickets and gets discounted tickets for young people. They are the fans we always see, even when there is not a full attendance and it may not be such a popular game. A big game with France is coming up and, interestingly, the FAI has pulled out of the arrangement it had with the Ballybrack Seagulls for ten years. Under the annual agreed arrangement, it cost €235 for a season ticket and €55 for a young person, which was discounted. The FAI has come back to the Ballybrack Seagulls and said a season ticket would cost €400 and there would be no discounts for young people. I ask the Taoiseach to ask the Minister of State with responsibility for sport to intervene with the FAI because this is letting the fans and young people down.

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