Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I too welcome the Minister of State to the House. This is a very important and timely discussion we are having. I also thank the members of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media for producing this report because it is a conversation we need to have. I will talk in my contribution about a conversation we need to have around the kitchen table in every house in this country. That is what we are trying to achieve here and something the committee has done very well in preparing such a report. The Minister of State is here with us today, and we as Members of the Seanad are getting a chance to talk about the report.

As a lifetime participant in a number of sports, I share the concerns the committee has raised in its report. I have played up to intercounty level and have coached ladies' and gents' teams and, unfortunately, and all too commonly now, we see the level of abuse towards officials and referees rising throughout Ireland. It is causing serious problems for the administration of sport in this country. That has to be a concern for Deputy Byrne as Minister of State with responsibility for sport. It is definitely a concern for me as a public representative, and I know that concern is shared right throughout these Houses when I have conversations with other public representatives about the damage being done to sport in this country by the abuse week in, week out. Colleagues today have mentioned that referees have had to take strike action in order to highlight the abuse, so I welcome the fact that we are having this conversation.

As other Members have said, last week we had a conversation with the GAA president, Larry McCarthy, when he was in the House. What we are talking about here are volunteers. Larry McCarthy, as uachtarán, was at pains to point out that we are dealing with volunteers in the main. Yes, a referee may get €40 for refereeing a match, but the officials who are with him get little or nothing at all unless, maybe, they are at intercounty level.We depend on those volunteers. They are the ones getting the torrent of abuse week in and week out. Nothing can justify the level of abuse that exists. I agree with what Senator Carrigy said. I have spoken to many referees in different codes. Many of them have got to the point now where they say to themselves that they will not bother reporting the amount of abuse that exists. I think it is very much under-reported. The code of conduct that the Minister of State referred to needs to encourage referees. I would put the call out again, as others have today, that we need to encourage referees to report this abuse. The Minister of State is on record as mentioning that the level of abuse needs to be taken on board by An Garda Síochána as well. I support that measure because that is how we need to stamp it out. If people are getting the level of abuse that we have seen, heard and read about on social media then we will be in a position where we will not have young referees coming through. This is something that I have had to deal with in a number of clubs.

I have seen young referees targeted with abuse at under-age, juvenile matches. Many of them have just stopped and we cannot blame them. At present it appears to be the case in the minds of many people that referees and officials seem to be fair game. This has got to stop and the code of conduct is essential in this regard. I welcome the fact that the Minister of State has led in that this week and I will talk a bit more about it in a moment.I just want to go back to the "around the kitchen table" conversation that I believe needs to happen. In conjunction with me, my colleague, Deputy Duncan Smith, has tabled some parliamentary questions on this matter. The Government, in association with the governing bodies of sports, needs to launch a national campaign in relation to abuse and what is happening at the moment. It needs to have that conversation around the table to enable people to call this abuse out before they actually quit volunteering. This was touched on by the uachtarán of Cumann Lúthchleas Gael when he addressed the Seanad last week. He stated:

While national publicity campaigns are appropriate, it is at the individual and club levels that we need to deliver the message that any form of disrespect to referees is unacceptable. That should begin with the individual but is also important for the mentors of under age players to show respect for officials.

That is why I am calling again for a Government-led response to this and we have a national campaign. The Minister of State has met the governing bodies this week and I hope that was part of the conversation. I referred to parliamentary questions about this matter and the Minister of State mentioned a question that was tabled at the end of March and he talked about examining what horizontal actions could be taken to address the issues. He outlined that Sport Ireland has plans to a working group of key stakeholders to develop a national code of conduct template across Irish sport. The Minister of State also mentioned that the working group will commence shortly. I am glad that he said the working group will be up and running next week because that is a very important reply and I welcome the fact that he has done so. This intervention is essential for sport in this country. When the president was here I mentioned the hypothetical scenario that we are all going to Croke Park to see Kildare play in an all-Ireland final against Meath or whoever. We are all there and the players are on the pitch and suddenly the referee is not there. That is the scenario we need to show the people who are abusing officials, that suddenly all those supporters have to go home again without seeing a match. No one wants to contemplate that and this is why I am seeking a national campaign.

I have mentioned before through media the silent sideline concept and which I am sure the Minister of State is familiar with. It works in certain sports. When I have mentioned this before, I have been accused of making games duller etc. I do not think a game will be dull if the silent sideline concept is used. I think young people who need encouragement should be encouraged but we need to stamp out the abuse of officials and that is where the silent sideline comes in. Clubs themselves should be calling out the abuse of officials. They are not calling out the mammies and daddies who are encouraging during their youngsters to play sport but they are calling out of the abuse of officials, which is essential.

Regarding the recommendations of the report to the committee, the ombudsman is essential. We all know the physical and mental health benefits that derive from playing sport for recreation. An ombudsman is an essential part of the equation I welcome the fact that the committee has recommended such and I hope the Minster of State will take that on board. I have already spoken about the working group and again, I thank the Minister of State for taking that on board. It is essential to bring in the governing bodies and to establish that code of conduct.

We all know about the phenomenon of the online warrior in political life, but I am seeing it more and more in sporting life as well. This is where county and club teams, officials and referees are getting abused week in and week out. I welcome that the committee has included a point on this, that through the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022, action will be taken on this. The social media companies have a huge role to play here as well. They need to identify these people, call them out and close them down quickly. It is the "quickly" part that is not happening at the moment. These people are getting oxygen and they are doing it day in, day out and week in, week out, after every match and we all know who they are.

The linkage of the sport capital is a very interesting idea and I think it is something I could support with a code of conduct because I think it is essential.

Senator Carrigy touched on sports facilities earlier. The uachtarán mentioned it in his address and I am hearing more and more about the lack of facilities in many areas. Integration of the GAA with camogie and with ladies' football is going to necessitate more facilities. I am hearing a lot about this. We need to look at a local authority-led area where we identify 13 to 50 acres in each major town so that we have extra playing facilities. I hope this is something I can talk to the Minister of State about again because that is where we need to get to.

I welcome the fact that an app is being produced. The lead of the local authorities is essential for us to maintain and build sports. In conclusion, we are having an essential conversation. Sport is essential to the Irish psyche and I thank the committee for its work.