Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming here today to discuss this all-important issue. I wish to pay tribute to the committee that published this report. I acknowledge the amount of work that was involved. I congratulate my friend and neighbour, Ms Joy Neville, the only female referee from Ireland who has been selected to attend the Rugby World Cup. It is a great honour for Joy, her wife, Simona, her son Alfie, and the extended Neville and Coppola families.

I looked at social media this morning, however, and there were some abusive comments regarding the fact that a female referee is going to the men's Rugby World Cup. It is totally unacceptable. The thrust of this report is about respect and dignity and how referees should be treated with the same level of respect we all expect. Joy spoke out quite openly last year about the amount of abuse she was getting. She was acting as a television match official, TMO, at a match and questioned whether a try was, in fact, a try. England lost the try over that decision and Joy received much abuse afterwards. It was not just abuse towards her, however, but also to her family. It called out her sexuality and her family circumstances. That is totally unacceptable.

I totally agree with what Senator Malcolm Byrne said regarding the person responsible for digital safety who has been brought in. There needs to be collaboration between the Minister of State's Department and that online digital safety person. Certainly, it is something that needs to be looked at quite closely.

I am well known in County Limerick and Munster for being an avid supporter of sport right across different spheres. It is not just rugby that I follow; I follow GAA and boxing among others. To see the level of abuse people receive, especially referees, which then extends to family members, is really concerning. While it is very difficult to tackle, it needs to be looked at quite closely.

Hockey is another sport I follow. We are very lucky in Limerick to have some members on the women's international hockey team. However, we saw an issue where a high-profile men's hockey team made derogatory comments about a player from the opposition team. Those kinds of things are totally unacceptable. If club players step out of line, they need to be held responsible. Clubs need to take sanctions. While some of them have suspended players or given them warnings, this needs to be watched more and more. Seanad colleagues are correct to say that it does not encourage people to become referees or get involved. Sport is something in which we are encouraging our youth to participate and families to get involved. Sport is very much associated with families. To see that abuse, not only online but in-person both on and off the pitch, is totally unacceptable. It stops families from going to a match. I recall attending a provincial match in which two provinces were playing. Some of the supporters of the winning team threw some very derogatory comments towards the team that was losing. There were people there with young children who said they would never take their children to a match again. That is the last message we need to go out. I thank the Minister of State for his work to date in terms of tackling this issue. A number of recommendations in the report are very worthwhile. The Minister of State has my full support with regard to this report and his ongoing work.