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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 71 and 109 together.

Addressing the participation of women and girls in sport and physical activity is an important element of national sports policy and is a core priority for me and the Minister. Along with Sport Ireland, we will continue to promote and encourage greater participation in sport by women and girls.

The Government has provided a current budget allocation of €89.7 million for Sport Ireland for 2023 that will enable the agency to continue to support the sport sector this year, including support for increased participation by women and girls.

The Women in Sport funding programme is an important support for sporting bodies in putting programmes in place to increase women's participation in their sports and to progress their strategic objectives for women in sport. Sport Ireland allocated €4 million under the programme for the 2021-22 with 45 national governing bodies, NGBs, receiving funding under this investment. A further €265,000 was invested in the local sports partnerships under the programme.

Sport Ireland will open a new cycle of Women in Sport funding for NGBs in the second quarter of this year. The funding guidelines will continue to encourage NGBs to develop Women in Sport programmes and initiatives focused on the key areas outlined in Sport Ireland's policy on women in sport.

Sport Ireland launched its women in sport policy in 2019 and will continue to implement the actions and objectives in the policy over the coming years. The Women in Sport policy is aligned to the national sports policy and its aims in terms of active participation are to significantly reduce the active sport participation gradient between men and women and to reduce the dropout by young girls from physical activity and sport.

Sport Ireland is continuing to promote women's and girls' participation in sport through various campaigns, such as the recent "It's My Time" campaign and HER Outdoors week. A new campaign established to support, motivate and encourage more teenage girls to be active will be launched in March. The "HER Moves" campaign will be very visible in promoting sport and physical activity to girls.

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