Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The GAA club awards took place in Croke Park last weekend. Camogie players, ladies footballers, footballers and hurlers were all celebrated at the same event. That might sound like it did not break new ground but it has actually never happened before. This is because, of course, we have three separate associations governing our national games. These are the Camogie Association, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, LGFA, and the GAA. The amalgamation process for those associations is well under way. We have not seen a great number of reports on the progress of the steering group. It is being chaired by former President Mary McAleese. I would like to invite the Minister for sport to come into the House to give us whatever his understanding is of the most up-to-date information on what is happening with the steering group.

It is very positive that all three associations want this to happen. Unfortunately, though, until it does happen, the situation is especially negatively impacting women and girls who play our national games. Juvenile girls teams struggle to get training spots on pitches. They are totally at the mercy of whether their club is signed up to the one-club model. On the other hand, senior intercounty players sometimes drive the length and breadth of their county in one day to play two matches, perhaps two county finals, because of fixture clashes between the Camogie Association and the LGFA. It is a farcical situation and it will not be rectified until the amalgamation process is complete.

Ironically, we can learn from our diaspora on this issue. If people play Gaelic football, camogie or ladies football in the US or Australia, they are members of one association governing all the various Gaelic games in that country. It is, therefore, being done. An amalgamation process has also happened quite recently in Irish sport when the sport of golf amalgamated its governing bodies to form Golf Ireland. This means a blueprint exists. We also have leading sports governance experts here who can feed into the steering group. I would like to know whether they have been invited to do so. We have wonderful people governing all sports and this amalgamation is something that can be achieved by 2027, which is the target. These governing bodies are funded, so I would like to invite the Minister to come into the House to give us his understanding of where this process is and what progress has been made.