Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As this is my debut in the Seanad, it is a bit daunting. Not only is it my first day addressing the Seanad but I am also surrounded by two Corkmen. For a Kerryman, it is always a dangerous situation to have one in front and one behind but I will do my best. I thank Senator Lombard for raising this very important matter. As Minister of State with responsibility for sport, the participation of women in sport is hugely important to me. Increased levels is also what I want to see. The Senator's Commencement matter is timely because it is something I see as a priority. This debate also gives me an opportunity to outline the actions the Department is taking in sport in general and to foster a greater level of participation by women in sport.

The Department is developing a new national sports policy, which will provide a framework for sport in Ireland over the next ten years. It will set the agenda for Sport Ireland, which already has specific legislative responsibilities in this area. The new sports policy is being developed following a highly consultative approach. The Minister, Deputy Ross, along with my predecessor, Deputy O’Donovan, launched a very successful consultation last November. A total of 53 submissions were received from a variety of stakeholders including national governing bodies of sport, local sports partnerships, Departments, private individuals and the corporate sector. These submissions, all of which have been published on my Department's website, dealt with a wide range of topics. Senator Lombard will be interested to note that the issue of women in sport was addressed by several of these submissions. The new national sports policy is still at the drafting stage. The aim is to have it ready for consideration by Government immediately following the summer break. It is something on which I hope to do an awful lot of work between now and then. While I am not in a position today to indicate the nature and scope of future policy actions or initiatives, I can indicate it will have a strong focus on the need for increased participation in sport and physical activity generally. Although it will, necessarily, have a population-wide focus, I anticipate it will address particular issues surrounding the participation of women in sport.

Sport Ireland already has a specific function to exercise under its legislative mandate. It is required to develop strategies for increasing participation in recreational sport at national and local level, which contains a strong women-in-sport component. Sport Ireland is extremely active in this area and is delivering an impressive array of actions to promote participation in sport and physical activity among adult women, teenagers and primary school girls. Due to time constraints, it is not possible for me to go into the details of those actions but I will be glad to provide the Senator with details afterwards and to discuss the matter further with him.

I will take this opportunity to outline three areas I believe are very important for women’s sport. First, with regard to how the public consumes women's sport, we need to achieve a greater level of exposure through broadcasting. Some broadcasters are doing excellent work; some could do more. It would benefit participation levels if we could see greater work on that. If Departments, agencies and broadcasters could work together, we would achieve great progress. I acknowledge the role of certain broadcasters who are doing a really good job already on that front.

The Senator mentioned the drop-off levels for girls on becoming teenagers and going into young adulthood. Some excellent work is being done at second and third level and we have a great opportunity and a captive audience to try to do more. I would like to see a greater focus in the Department on working with those who already are doing great work to try to bring it on further.

It is extremely important that there is equality of opportunity. The theme of the Senator's contribution was very much based on that. We should have a situation where all women have the same chances to take up sport as their male counterparts. Before I got my current job, I was researching the Title IX measure in the United States, which encourages schools and colleges to increase participation levels by ensuring a non-discriminatory approach in federal funding for male and female participants in sport. It is something that started back in the 1970s. The results have been astounding. My sister-in-law, who is from California, brought this to my attention. I was discussing it with her recently. It is a very interesting topic and something we need to discuss further.

Progress is being made and we will be focusing through the new sports policy on greater participation levels by women in sport across the board. There is no doubt it will require further funding and hopefully as a country we will be in a better place to do that in the time ahead. The overall long-term savings of participation in sport, from a monetary point of view, are enormous. More importantly, from a human point of view, physical activity is probably the best thing anybody can do. It is something we really need to encourage more.

I look forward to developing this policy further in my new role and to further consultation with all of the stakeholders. The Senator clearly has an interest in this. I am very willing to work with him throughout the summer, to take whatever ideas and suggestions he has and to try to incorporate the good ideas into this sports policy. It is the same for all Oireachtas Members and anybody with an interest in this. It is important we get this right and get the best possible plan in place going into the future.