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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 63 together.

The Minister and I were very pleased to be able to announce an increase of €2 million in funding for the Women in Sport programme for 2024. This is a very important funding scheme for sporting bodies and it will continue to support those bodies in putting programmes in place to increase women’s participation in their sports and to progress their strategic objectives for women in sport across all areas, including active participation, coaching, officiating and leadership.

The increased budget will also facilitate Sport Ireland to continue to lead out on programmes and initiatives that support the implementation of the Sport Ireland policy on women in sport. The additional funding that the Minister and I secured will double Sport Ireland’s budget under the Women in Sport programme next year. The funding will be administered by Sport Ireland, which will set out the terms and conditions of funding. It is anticipated that the 2024 scheme will open for applications in the first quarter of next year.

Sport Ireland’s funding guidelines for the Women in Sport programme continue to encourage organisations to develop women in sport programmes and initiatives focused on the key areas outlined in Sport Ireland's policy on women in sport, namely, coaching and officiating, active participation, leadership and governance and visibility. Investment in the programme to date has enhanced all aspects of female involvement in these target areas.

The Women in Sport funding programme has been in place since 2005 and since then, more than €22 million has been invested through the national governing bodies, NGBs, of sport and local sports partnerships.

See this speech in context