Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)

I welcome the ambassador as well and acknowledge the work she has done over recent months and years. We had a productive meeting yesterday in the foreign affairs committee. It could have gone on for two or three more hours it was so impressive.

I am happy to see Senator Andrews in the Chair now because League of Ireland and grassroots soccer is something he and I are passionate about. The FAI has done excellent work over recent years, particularly in its 2022-2025 strategy, 80% of which is completed. This work has been led by the president, Mr. Paul Cooke, and by the CEO, Mr. David Courell. There has been a lot done on increasing participation. We now have 234,000 people in the country playing soccer, an increase of 7% in three years. In terms of female participation, we have seen an increase of 27% in participation. That goes back to the success of the women's game internationally when playing in the World Cup in Australia a number of years ago. Sponsorship has been increased, being doubled in recent years, and the ticketing from national games and League of Ireland has been increased. There has been a lot done.

What the FAI is putting together is a programme and plan for the next ten years which will transform the League of Ireland and the underage and academy levels. Essentially, it is planning to set up 26 centres of excellence academy locations across the country. Six of them will be in Dublin city - people will be familiar with the likes of Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and Shelbourne - and there will be 19 around the country in the likes of Wexford, Waterford, Kerry, Cobh Ramblers, Cork, Galway United and Finn Harps. They will be almost everywhere in the country. The reason for this is to try to create an opportunity for young children throughout the country because one of the challenges the League of Ireland and the FAI have had is losing talent in certain areas because we do not have that centre of excellence. What the organisation is trying to do is to build that opportunity and build a pathway within those academy locations so as to have a pyramid system where there is an opportunity for young talented players to be able to progress to a level at which they can achieve, which could be at international level, League of Ireland level or a lower league level, and to have a more structured base to create those opportunities.It also means there would be more sustainable success over the years. Instead of having one player here and there breaking through, there would be success right through.

This plan is over an 11-year period, with continuous investment from the FAI, but the hope is to get investment from the Government. At the moment, €8 million a year is put in. Under the plan, we are looking at €16 million a year, so there is an €8 million multiyear investment being sought from the Government, starting in this upcoming budget. What that essentially will do is close the gap from where Ireland is positioned from a grassroots level compared with other countries across the world.

We currently have a situation where players do not have the opportunity to get the top-quality level coaching they need to be able to get to the level they need to reach. The FAI is asking that we put that money forward. Some 81% of that funding will go right back into the clubs on the ground. It does not stay in Dublin. It goes right back into the ground to promote players.

I look forward to the Minister of State’s response.