Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is an excellent idea. I will talk to the relevant Ministers as to how to take that forward. Based on what I have been told and what I read, a number of positive measures have been taken by sporting organisations in recent years, which I know the Deputy would accept and acknowledge. I do not suggest the 1990s was a very long time ago but many years have passed and a lot has happened, quite rightly, in safeguarding, policies and procedures. That is not in any way to take away from the horrific instances discussed and reported on in recent days. We now have our national governing bodies, which have standards to apply and codes of conduct and practice around the welfare of our players. Sport Ireland recently re-engaged with all 65 national governing bodies. The Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, is doing good work in this area, which I acknowledge. The Minister of State, the Minister and I will consider how best to take this forward because zero tolerance means zero tolerance for everyone. We were in the Chamber only recently talking about the Defence Forces and the Judiciary in as appropriate a way as we could. It seems every week we talk about a different aspect of the State or public or private and that whole issue of zero tolerance. That is why what we are trying to do at a whole-of-government level is work to use every policy lever at our disposal. The cultural change piece is also key, and that is why we will need wider societal support.

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