Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The weekend revelations concerning the abuse of young women soccer players represent the lowest point in the history of scandals involving the Football Association of Ireland, FAI. The absence of FAI safeguards to protect women and young female players was simply unforgivable. It exemplified perfectly the power imbalance that lies at the heart of men's abuse of women. It was deeply unsettling to watch the "RTÉ Investigates" programme on Sunday evening as it revealed harrowing details of historic abuse allegations against FAI coaches by young women and by players on a FÁS course dating back to the 1990s. All of the men were in positions of authority and were initially trusted and respected by the players. The latest controversy engulfing the FAI exemplifies the power imbalance that lies at the heart of men's abuse of women. It exposes the culture of misogyny and male entitlement that has pervaded Irish football and other sporting bodies for decades. Monday's apology from the FAI, while appropriate, will not compensate or made amends for the unforgivable absence of safeguards that should have been in place to protect these young women and girls whose dreams of representing their country were shattered by such appalling behaviour.

Specifically, I want to refer to Olivia O'Toole, who, like me, is a former Sheriff YC player. During the 1990s and early 2000s, many of us sat back and wondered why this extraordinary footballer who was beating all of us on the pitch was not involved in the Irish team. It was only afterward that we found out why. It is extraordinary to think that there was a complete absence of guidelines covering the inappropriateness of relationships between adult coaches and women who were still in their teens at the time.

There remains some confusion about the nature of the safeguarding policies in place within the FAI. In recent weeks, the FAI appears to have been scrambling to update its safeguarding policies in response to queries received from the two exceptional journalists involved in exposing this scandal. According to the "RTÉ Investigates" programme on Sunday, there is no FAI policy in place which deals with player and coach relationships, and there never has been. It has been stated that such a policy is now being finalised. However, at Monday's press conference, the FAI said such a policy was in fact in place but that it does not extend to the League of Ireland women's clubs. The position needs to be clarified urgently. The FAI should immediately publish the safeguarding policy. It should clarify when that policy came into being and when it was communicated to members and coaches and explain why it has not been extended to all coaches in the organisation. There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that women and girls training with the FAI today are protected and that appropriate safeguards are in place.

Sunday's programme was another reminder that domestic, sexual and gender-based violence have been endemic in Ireland for decades and continue to be so. As I watched the programme, it was continually stated that what happened dated back to the 1990s. I was reminded that the last Magdalen laundry in Ireland only closed on 21 October 1996. On Monday, I started to have conversations about this matter, including with some of the players who knew some of the coaches. One of the questions people in the sporting community are asking is how many more people will come forward now and talk about their experiences of abuse - both sexual and physical - while playing sport in Ireland.

We have spoken about the FA, but Sport Ireland has a huge role to play here on a number of different fronts. Sport, when it is done correctly and when people feel protected and empowered, is the most beautiful of things. When there are egotistical men involved, however, what develops is toxic environment in which some of our most vulnerable people to not feel safe. We have spoken continuously about and will continue to highlight gender-based violence. What is being done in the context of safe places for members of our LGBTQI community as they engage in sport simply has not been anywhere near strong enough. There is work to do when it comes to legislation and the safeguarding policies that goes across clubs and sports. There is also a need for education programmes to tackle the levels of toxic masculinity that exist within what has been previously described as a kind of locker room culture. The only way to penetrate that culture is by us - men - challenging it. There must also be education programmes in this regard and we must break down the false masculinity that has been pushed on young men such that they feel this is what they need in order to thrive in sporting environments.

Without tackling the culture, we are going to relive these horrors consistently, over and over again. There is a job for this House and a major job for sporting bodies in how we combat that.

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