Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and very much appreciate this opportunity to discuss this important topic of sport, which is sometimes relegated. When we think of the lives we all live and of our communities, it is sports clubs and involvement in sport that lift so many communities, families and individuals, and even the entire country. Reference has been made to our international teams and how they have brought success. It gives everybody a great lift.

Historically, though, we have underinvested in sport. On an EU basis, as a percentage of overall spending in this regard, I think we are one of the lowest in the EU. We have, therefore, a great deal of catching up to do. I have listened intently to the contributions of the Minister of State in this area since his appointment and I have been impressed with some of the comments he has made. We have had a long-standing issue with the betting levy. It goes towards one fund, namely, the Horse and Greyhound Fund. The betting levy could probably be increased to support other sporting endeavours. This is something the Minister of State has an interest in pursuing. I have heard his Government colleagues making similar calls and I think this is something we have to do. It is a lopsided situation, in my view, to have €100 million annually going to the Horse and Greyhound Fund when we have such a deficit in terms of sporting infrastructure.

The Minister of State and his predecessor in the portfolio, the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, commented on the need for an overhaul of how we undertake the sports capital funding allocation.

It is imbalanced. If one is in a club that has any amount of professionals on the committee, that club can produce a very well put together application and it is going to get the funding. If a club happens to have a more working-class background or it is a more working-class sport that does not have the same level of expertise, it can be imbalanced. Again, my colleague Senator Wall and I believe the local authority at a local level probably needs to be driving this process. It could do an audit of any given community in any given area and could give an indication to the Government on what needs to be funded, rather than the individual clubs doing it. I also believe that we must change the mindset of every club demanding something just for themselves and which they will not share. If we look at the European model, there are playing facilities that any amount of codes can benefit from. That is the way forward because it is simply not sustainable for a local authority, the Government or any State agency to be funding individual playing facilities from which only one club can benefit. We need to move away from that.

Mention was made of the League of Ireland. We are missing a fantastic opportunity really. Now there is a lot more positivity about the League of Ireland. I went to matches 30 years ago - I acknowledge the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, did too - where all the talk is about the past and the glory days of the past but the infrastructure was very poor. It has not really improved since then. Now the talk is all about the future and about investment and the potential of Dalymount Park, Tolka Park and Richmond Park to improve, as well as of grounds around the country including Finn Park in Donegal, the grounds in Sligo and various stadiums. That investment is needed. There is potential for our League of Ireland clubs to advance and become regular participants in the group stages of European competitions that could bring big name clubs to this country on a regular basis. Playing those games here is within our vision and not having to hang our hat on such projects as Euro 2028, which we are quite sceptical about. We are sceptical that there always seems to be some sort of big castle on the hill-type project we should be excited about, rather than the basic fundamentals. For example, the FAI report said that one third of Irish clubs effectively cannot host an under-14s girls' game. If that is the reality on the ground then we need to seriously address that.

I will focus heavily on football in my contribution. The Minister of State made the point about gender equality. When we consider the pathway a young girl has in football in Ireland, why must we always assume that she will go to England or the UK to fulfil her dreams? We have lost another young player, Abbie Larkin, who we all cheered on during the World Cup in the summer. She has gone to Glasgow to fulfil her ambition. It is really draining the potential here for a robust vibrant League of Ireland when our international players are all playing abroad. Another player, Áine O'Gorman, only retired recently. Twelve years ago, 70% of the women's team were based here in domestic clubs and now they effectively are all playing in the UK, many of them on rolling one-year contracts and not for big money. With a bit more vision, we could have a domestic league that our young people could attend and see these international players playing here. It could be one of the best in Europe and certainly could rival what Scotland has to offer.

We certainly need to look at the investment level and how we can improve that. We need to ensure that clubs at a local level, regardless of what code they are involved in, understand the necessity to share and to have a communal vision for their own individual areas. I talk regularly to football clubs in my own area. I want to mention Ayrfield United and Kilmore Celtic, which are doing fantastic work with underage sections that are bursting at the seams. Again, however, it is the basic provision of infrastructure that could really help them to go to the next level.

While I am at it, I wish my own GAA club, Scoil Uí Chonaill, the best of luck in the championship final at the weekend even though they are playing against Parnells, which is a bit of a constituency rivalry there. I wish all the best to Scoil Uí Chonaill on Saturday.

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