Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hear the Senator's points and will bring them back to the Minister, Deputy Martin, and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne. From the response I have from them, their argument would be that every euro going into a sports organisation or club, whether large scale or sports capital, is being done. To avail of any grant, clubs have to confirm they are providing equal access. The approach is, rather than having a scheme to encourage clubs to make available the extra dressing room for female participation, is to make sure that unless they have equal participation, they will not get the funding to do the drainage, build a stand or whatever they are doing. I was the secretary of my GAA club for seven years. I am married to a lady footballer. I know all about the importance of women in sports. I know the barriers they face with access to grounds and different things. I am thankful it is changing, but I will bring back to the Minister and Minister of State the point raised by the Senator about a separate scheme. They would say that, at sports leadership level, they have introduced a new rule to ensure 40% gender representation on boards of governing bodies as well. More female voices at governing body and board level will ensure that prevalence comes through, but I will bring those points back and thank the Senator for raising them today.