Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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Speaking of the summer ahead, Question No. 13 is in the name of Deputy Andrews.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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13. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the measures that are being put in place to address the expected increase in participation at a grassroots level in women's football ahead of the FIFA Women's World Cup in July 2023 in Australia; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2737/23]

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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The Irish women's football team have qualified for the World Cup in Australia in July. This will be a major boost for football in Ireland and particularly women's football. It is an enormous achievement for the women's team under the stewardship of Vera Pauw. What measures are being put in place to address the expected increase in participation in grassroots football ahead of the finals in July 2023?

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for this highly relevant question. This is a very exciting time for women's football in Ireland. I recently attended the soccer writers' awards night at which Vera Pauw spoke. The sense of sheer excitement and pride, which came from her and was shared around the room, will be reflected throughout the country as we build up to the World Cup and our women take part in it. We wish them well. It will be very exciting for us in the run-up, but they have considerable hard work to do in preparing for it. I wish them well in that. It is a great achievement and presents a real opportunity to grow the women's game even further at every level and we will do that through every avenue available to Government. There is no doubt but that it will have a positive and significant impact in increasing participation numbers.

The FAI launched its strategy for 2022 to 2025 last year. Developing the full potential of football for women and girls is a core objective of that strategy, and one the Government supports. Earlier this month, the FAI announced the appointment of Eileen Gleeson as its head of women's and girls' football to lead the continued development and growth of football for all women and girls in Ireland. This appointment is a very welcome and positive development for women's football.

Football clubs and communities throughout the country are doing excellent work in promoting football for women and girls and providing opportunities for them to participate. Addressing women's participation at all levels in sport is an important element of our national sports policy and a key priority for me and the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin. Football is contributing significantly to achieving our aims in that regard.

The Government and Sport Ireland will continue to support the FAI in developing the game among women and girls. In accordance with the Government's memorandum of understanding with the FAI, funding of €5.8 million is being allocated to the FAI for football development each year between 2020 and 2023.

In addition, specific women-in-sport funding is allocated to the FAI through Sport Ireland's women-in-sport funding programme to increase women's participation and to progress the FAI's strategic objectives for women in sport. Funding of €64,000 was provided under this programme for 2021 and 2022. In December 2022, funding was provided to Sport Ireland to support a number of initiatives aimed at improving the profile and visibility of female athletes across all sports in 2023, with specific support for women in football.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply. We need to ensure that the grassroots level is the best it can be to ensure we capture the almost certain increase in participation around the finals in Australia. We need increased investment in facilities across the country, particularly for grassroots development. Regional development is very important. It is great to see a Kerry football club starting up and developing into the League of Ireland.

With all the clubs throughout the country, including in my constituency in Ringsend, there is an issue with all-weather facilities. A previous speaker mentioned multi-use facilities, which is really important. We are not investing enough in those. The collapse of the stand in Limerick's Markets Field at the end of last year highlights the urgent need for investment in League of Ireland and grassroots facilities. We can support and cheer on the Irish team, but we need to do more than that. We need significant investment in grassroots football.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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There is no doubt but that there will be a massive increase. Apart from the great pride and everybody cheering our women on, it will lead to more people getting involved and more pressure on facilities. As part of the sports capital programme, funding will be geared to ensuring we have inclusion and increased participation at all levels, including among women and girls. As I mentioned in response to an earlier question, we also have initiatives at senior board level which are designed to get more women on boards and more focus on that in the governing bodies. That also needs help at all levels throughout the administrative structures of the organisation and, as the Deputy said, through the facilities. I am absolutely committed to doing that.

I was never a great soccer player although my late father was. My wife also played soccer. I know personally of the pride among women who played soccer or indeed Gaelic football over the past 20 or 30 years at a time when it was a minority sport.

It is with pride that we see the Irish ladies' team now coming through. It is also a source of pride to see the kids who are now coming up through the ranks and playing soccer at a high level. We hope that will continue. The Government and Sport Ireland are committed to doing everything we possibly can to ensure we facilitate that and enable it to happen.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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I acknowledge the Minister of State's reply. I do not want to labour the point but we need to move away from the sports capital grant scheme. We need to move to national sports facilities. In 2012, the Government developed a draft sports facility strategy which was supported by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI. A circular was sent to all local authorities to try to develop the strategy. Has the Government completely ruled out a national sports strategy or is it open to developing one?

In order to harness the joy around Irish football, in particular women's football, we need to ring-fence significant funding for the FAI. We need to set up a task force within the FAI and the Government to ensure that funding is directed at the development of women's sport, including women's football, to benefit from the team's World Cup participation.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh na páistí atá anseo ó Scoil Mobhí i nGlas Naíon. Tá fáilte rompu isteach sa Dáil inniu. I was talking about my wife playing sport. Coincidentally, she used to play Gaelic in Na Fianna, next door to our visitors. That is a complete coincidence.

The Deputy raised important questions. I, the Minister and the Government are very committed to the issue. We will work with the Deputy and the Government bodies. At the meetings I have with every body, including the FAI, the issue of women in sport is top of the agenda. I do not agree with the Deputy's point about moving away from the sports capital programme. I complete reject that. However, I absolutely agree with him about facilities. The most recent sports capital round included the allocation of €25 million to multi-sport facilities. Much of that funding would go to education and training boards, ETBs, local authorities or sports clubs that happen to allow different sports. We do not have the figures broken down, and I am trying to get such a breakdown, but football is a big beneficiary. The size of the pitch in a multi-sport facility is, generally speaking, the size of an all-weather soccer pitch. We will continue to do that. Under the sports capital programme, clubs or organisations that provide for multi-sport facilities or allow access to other sports gain an advantage. We want to help increase participation. I am committed to the issues the Deputy raised in this question. We will continue to work on those issues.