Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, to the House.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I also welcome the Minister of State. This is the first time I have addressed him. I congratulate him on his appointment and offer him continued best wishes.

I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to discuss this matter of the utmost importance, which will continue to impact more and more women as time goes by.We have a wonderful tradition of sport in this country and our sportswomen are going from strength to strength. From qualifying for this summer's Hockey World Cup, to Leona Maguire's rise through the world ranks and captain Lucy Mulhall leading the team into their first-ever HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series final in Seville, this small country has been put on the map of women's sport internationally. It is a wonderful example to the girls and young women in the country and is worth protecting.

However, there is currently a glaring issue with fair competition when it comes women's sport in Ireland. It stems from the introduction of self-ID legislation in 2015. Through that legislation, the State declared that being a women is in fact a feeling and that biological reality is not especially relevant when it comes to the business of being a woman. We are now told that men who say they are women are also women and merely had been born in the wrong body. The notion of bodies is important for women in many areas but none more than sport and that is what I am here to speak about. I tell the Minister of State that bodies, not identities, play sport. The publicly-funded lobby group Transgender Equality Network Ireland, TENI, is campaigning for inclusion in sport. This is a misnomer. Men who identify as women already have a category of sport open to them, namely, the male category. What this lobby group is actually seeking is the erasure of the single-sex female category and its replacement with a mixed-sex one. This will obliterate fair competition in women's sport and will endanger female athletes in contact sports. Does the Minister of State recognise the role biological sex plays in women's sport? What steps will be taken to preserve female sports, given the danger posed by self-ID legislation?

Irish sportswomen are excelling but the support for that has not always been forthcoming. It was not that long ago our women's soccer team were forced to change in airport toilets and return their tracksuits to share with other teams. The spectre of humiliation is never far away. However, this latest attack on women's sport will have the highest impact of all. Across the pond, US President Joe Biden dismantled the Title IX provision, allowing for biological males to compete in female sports. Since then, the sporting world has looked on in disbelief as a man who previously swam in the US elite men's college competition now claims to identify as a woman and has just gone on to win a set of records in three different events. The same individual will compete against an Irish female Olympian in collegiate competition in the coming months, so we can already see the impact this is having on our sportswomen. Strikingly, there are no examples of women who identify as men taking podium places or threatening records held by men. However, there are examples of women who identify as men competing and succeeding on women's teams. This is entirely appropriate as they are of the same sex. Men's sport remains untouched by gender ideology. Across the world, sportsmen and sportswomen are speaking out against the erasure of women's sports. They include Martina Navratilova, Daley Thompson, Michael Phelps, Sharron Davies and notably, two bio-males who now identify as women, namely, Caitlyn Jenner and Renée Richards. In light of this, will the Minister of State confirm he supports fair competition and safety for women and girls in their chosen sport? How does he plan to protect these rights when all single-sex provisions have been dismantled through self-ID?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Keogan for raising this matter. Equality in sport is a key priority for both myself and the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin. Our overall vision for women in sport is one where women have an equal opportunity to achieve their full potential while enjoying a lifelong involvement in sport. A fundamental aim of the Government's National Sports Policy 2018-2027 is to increase the levels of participation in sport and physical activity across the population, with a specific focus on less-represented groups including women and girls. Much work is happening and good progress is being made not just in increasing active participation but also in the important areas of leadership and management roles in sport.

The Women in Sport funding programme is a very important support for sporting bodies in putting programmes in place to increase women's participation in their sports and to progress their strategic objectives for women in sport. The programme has been in place since 2005 and since then, over €20 million has been invested through the national governing bodies of sport and the local sports partnerships around the country. In 2018, funding under this sport programme was €600,000. Last year, Sport Ireland announced an investment of €4 million for the two years 2021 and 2022. This significant increase in funding ensures opportunities continue to be provided for women to participate in sport. I was pleased to secure increased funding for Sport Ireland in the budget for 2022, bringing its total current expenditure budget to over €96 million compared to €92 million last year. This will enable Sport Ireland to continue to support governing bodies and local sports partnerships in delivering programmes for all participants, male and female.

There is a growing momentum towards better integration of the three governing bodies involved in Gaelic games, namely, the GAA, Ladies Gaelic Football Association and the Camogie Association. The three organisations are working on a pathway to amalgamation. I am very supportive of such moves, which reflect much of what is already happening at club level and would further ensure parity of treatment for female players within the Gaelic games family. One of my priorities last year was to eliminate the funding gap that existed in grant funding for male and female Gaelic players. I am very pleased to have achieved that aim and to have ensured that we have now parity in that grant funding. Additional funding has been provided for enhanced support of female intercounty Gaelic players on an equivalent basis to that being provided for their male counterparts, thus bringing the total amount available for female players in this context to €2.4 million.

The aim in the National Sports Policy 2018-2027 is to eliminate the gender participation gap in sport entirely by 2027. The 2019 Irish Sports Monitor report showed that the gender gap in sports participation was 3.4%, which is narrower than at any point over the past ten years. While the Irish Sports Monitor report for the first quarter of 2021 showed the gender gap was eliminated during the Covid-19 restrictions, the latest Irish Sports Monitor figures for quarter 3 show a gender gap beginning to re-emerge as restrictions were lifted. In quarter 3, male sports participation had returned to pre-pandemic levels at 48%, while female sports participation was at 38%, which is 7% behind the level measured in 2019. The emerging gradient is a cause for focus and ongoing monitoring. To this end, many national governing bodies are delivering women in sport and programmes funded by the Dormant Accounts Fund this winter. These actively target populations that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic including females, economically and socially disadvantaged communities, people with a disability and ethnic minorities.

Addressing women's participation at all levels in sport is an important element of the national sports policy. That includes women in leadership positions such as governing bodies. The national sports policy set a target of 30% gender representation on boards by the end of 2023, which we have increased in our action plan for sport to 40%. It is a particular priority for me to enable women to take more leadership positions in sport and the 40% reflects this prioritisation. I will conclude my statement when I come back in.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State. Certainly, what he has outlined and indeed done himself with regard to funding women's sport and its organisations has been very impressive. However, the question I have is that when we speak about women, we need a definition of that category and we need to protect that category of women within sport. I understand that last year, a freedom of information request went into Sport Ireland asking about this and it stated it had not even discussed self-identifying males competing against females. This is about safeguarding and protecting women's sport. We owe it to the females who compete competitively and who have put years and years of their lives into training in their sports to protect that and ensure this is fair and competitive to them. I ask the Minister of State to reflect on this issue and ensure the provision of this level and equal playing field, which will remain as a safe space for females going forward. Maybe he can address that issue.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Keogan. The last year has, as we know, been dominated by amazing moments for women's sport and our sportswomen very deservedly received many plaudits in the recent months. The Senator's own of County Meath has had tremendous success in Croke Park. It was one of the best games, despite my county being on the losing side of it. Sportswomen like Rachel Blackmore, Leona Maguire, Kelly Harrington, Fionnuala McCormack, Amy Hunter and Emma Slevin, along with female players in many teams across all codes provided great sporting moments for us all.All of these moments are inspiring the next generation of women and girls to take up sport, get out and get active and be the next generation of sporting heroes who will inspire us in the years and decades ahead. I acknowledge the work being done by Sport Ireland, the governing bodies and the network of local sports partnerships in developing programmes and contributing to the increase in the number of women and girls taking part in sport.

I expect 2022 to be another great year for women's sport. From a policy perspective, I will do everything to ensure our sportswomen are supported across the board. I am sure that if the Senator has direct questions for Sport Ireland, it will respond. I am not privy to the freedom of information request but I am sure the agency will revert to the Senator.