Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have seen great momentum and great attendances in recent times in the League of Ireland. There was a great example recently in the Aviva Stadium, with 33,000 people attending. I want to work with the FAI and all in grassroots football to build on that momentum in order to make sure that right across the country the support and development opportunities are there for young children to get involved in this sport, to excel and to develop their participation. At the moment, the Government, through the memorandum of understanding with the FAI, has significant support in place. Significantly increased support started in 2019, following on from the financial collapse of the FAI at that time, which led to a significant increase in the allocation to the FAI, targeted primarily towards coaching and development at grassroots level, particularly with young people. I think there is real potential in developing an academy structure as part of that ecosystem. I want to make sure that any investment we put into that is directed in a way that makes a real impact and delivers real results. I have outlined how we are engaging with the FAI, how we have already provided financial support to do an audit and to put in place an academy administrator and then how we step it out from there.

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