Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Broad-ranging issues have been discussed in the Chamber to mark International Women's Day, but one matter that is of particular importance to me from my previous job as a sports journalist is that of inequality in funding for women's sport. The disparity between women's and men's sport remains as large as ever and the efforts to address it are painfully slow. I pay tribute to Mary O'Connor, CEO of the Federation of Irish Sport, for her work in this regard.I pay tribute also to the various sporting organisations that are responsible for the various codes in soccer, GAA, rugby and track and field. They have not just sat around waiting for something to happen; they are making change happen for themselves. This is best epitomised by the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, LGFA, which, through a great commercial partnership with TG4 and Lidl as its main sponsors, has upped the ante on this issue. Both businesses are to be commended on their advertising campaigns, namely, Real Fans and Levelling the Playing Field.

Are we anywhere near levelling the playing field? Last week, at a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture Sport and the Gaeltacht, we discussed a letter we had received from Maria Kinsella, the chairperson of the Women's Gaelic Players Association. She sent extensive documentation to us on the funding allocation for women's sport and on the progress made in increasing sport participation. It made for stark reading. She stated that Government grants for a male player stand at €1,363, while for female players, the sum is €424. On gym access, there is no cost for male players whereas 70% of female players pay their own costs, and injury expenses are not much better. My 11-year-old girl, CJ, is passionate about athletics and her favourite book is Girls Play Tooby Jacqui Hurley from RTÉ, a book of inspiring stories of Irish sportswomen. It is a fantastic book. Jackie designed it to show girls like CJ that Irish girls and women can achieve the highest accolades in sport and, by writing and illustrating the book, to show them the role models who exist in various codes and disciplines. If that book is to mean anything, we Senators, Deputies and the Cabinet need to ensure that funding towards women's sport is equalised and that the Levelling the Playing Field advertisement becomes a reality.