Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State is very welcome. I thank him for taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Byrne. The reality is we do not have facilities that are of an equal standard throughout the country and across all sporting activities. Over the last number of years, and particularly since the 2020 campaign from the Federation of Irish Sport, we have seen a massive increase in female participation across the main codes, namely, GAA, rugby and soccer. As I said, the reality is that a significant number of those facilities were built solely with men in mind because of the fact that there were not female teams in that local area or parish. My own local community is a prime example of that. I have been involved in the GAA at a local, provincial and national level for a long time but I am still involved in my own local club. We developed our facilities just over 25 years ago.However, we did not have a female team in the club at the time and the facilities were built with men in mind, particularly the toilet and showering facilities. We now have an active underage and adult ladies club, and it is time that we brought our facilities up to equal status. We have all heard stories of ladies’ county teams not getting access to county grounds in years gone by. We have come a long way since then and are now at a point I am strongly supportive of, namely, the one club model, with the integration of the LGFA, the Camogie Association and the GAA into one GAA family. We are one GAA family and that is where we need to be. The joint Oireachtas committee on sport recently held discussions on this matter with the former President, Professor Mary McAleese, and the three associations. We aim to achieve integration by 2027, but our facilities are not up to standard. This is not just the case in the GAA, but across boxing, rugby and all other sports. I have been working with Longford Rugby Club on a sports capital grant application to upgrade its showering and toilet facilities to proper levels for the ladies club.

I want a specific fund set up for clubs. We are anxiously awaiting the announcement of the sports capital programme, which I hope will be next September or October. I believe that more than €320 million is being allocated to it this year. We need to introduce a specific programme for upgrading facilities in this way because, although some clubs are upgrading theirs, some are not. We need to make this a priority. We need to have equal facilities in all sports. Having a specific fund would give clubs an incentive to make this a priority over other issues, for example, lighting, stands, etc. This needs to be the number one priority. Our facilities for female participants must be on a par with those for males. There have been recent successes in athletics and boxing. Newstalk ran a programme last week following my press release on this matter and highlighted that some of our well-known international boxers did not have facilities in their clubs.

The fund would not just be for the GAA, but all sports. We are in 2024 and it is time we set a deadline of a number of years, put funding in place and ensure that female and male athletes’ facilities in every sporting organisation are on par.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. A fundamental aim of the Government’s national sports policy 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. A great deal of good progress is being made, not just in increasing participation by women and girls, but also in the important areas of leadership and management roles in sport.

A number of new policies have been introduced by the Minister, Deputy Martin, and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, in addition to significant funding provided under our women in sport programme. The Minister and Minister of State have also announced a new similar access requirement, which ensures that public funding will only go towards the development of sports facilities that provide similar access to women and men.

The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media operates two capital funding programmes for sport, namely, the sports capital and equipment programme, SCEP, and the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. The SCEP is the primary vehicle for Government support for the development of sports and recreational facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment throughout the country. The LSSIF provides support for larger sports facility projects where the Exchequer investment would be greater than the maximum amount available under the SCEP. The LSSIF is currently open for applications, with a deadline of 1 July, which is next week.

Under the latest round of the sports capital and equipment programme, changes were introduced to make clear that applications for local projects that did not provide access to its facilities on similar terms for men and women would not be eligible for funding. Applicants will also be ineligible for funding if they do not confirm in writing that they are in compliance with the provisions of the Equal Status Acts.

On 26 April, the Minister and Minister of State opened a new €120 million round of the large-scale sport infrastructure fund. Applications under this fund remain open. Under the new round, a similar access requirement was introduced. The similar access requirement means that recipients of LSSIF funding must accommodate the needs of women and men on a similar basis with respect to accessing the facilities that have been allocated public funding.Any organisation in receipt of LSSIF funding must have a similar access policy in place and publish it. The Minster, Deputy Martin and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, have also confirmed that a record €250 million is being made available under this round of the sports capital and equipment programme. This figure represents a 50% increase in funding compared with the previous round of the programme in 2020. Applications for capital allocations under this round of the programme are currently being assessed, which includes a review of the applicants' provisions with regard to similar access. It is expected the capital allocations under the programme will be announced by autumn.

Addressing women's participation at all levels of sport is an important element of the national sports policy. Through the work of Sport Ireland, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media is committed to increasing women's sustained involvement in sport as coaches, volunteers, club members, athletes, advocates, leaders and participants from grassroots to the podium. The Women in Sport funding programme has been in place since 2005, and since then more than €30 million has been invested through the national governing bodies, NGBs, of sport and the local sports partnerships. This supports the Government's vision for women in sport as one where women have an equal opportunity to achieve their full potential while enjoying a lifelong involvement in sport. In 2023, Government funding of €2.7 million was invested in the Women in Sport programme, and in budget 2024 there was a significant increase in funding, which will see a record €4 million invested in the programme. The increased funding for Women in Sport in 2024 will support sporting organisations to put programmes in place to increase women's participation in their sports and assist in achieving our aim of equal participation by 2027. Sport Ireland's funding guidelines for our Women in Sport programme also continues to encourage organisations to develop programmes and initiatives focused on key areas outlined in Sport Ireland's policy on women in sport, namely, coaching and officiating, active participation, leadership, governance and visibility. Investment in the programme to date has enhanced all aspects of female involvement across these target areas.

Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael)
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While I welcome the significant funding put in place, the large-scale infrastructure fund is for large-scale infrastructure projects. The GAA alone has 2,200 clubs across 32 counties. There are also rugby clubs and soccer clubs. These are the smaller club facilities where young girls start out playing the sport. The reality is that a high percentage of them do not have the facilities. I welcome that €250 million is set aside for the sports capital programme, but what percentage of that is to upgrade facilities for female participation? A significant amount of that would be for stands, drainage on pitches and so on. I ask that a breakdown would be given on what amount is part of that. While improvements have been made, I do not think it is sufficient, and I still believe it is important we put together a specific scheme similar to the sports capital programme on that specific basis. We are taking it seriously and looking to get people involved in leadership. We have been active with regard to the percentage on boards, but not on governing bodies. In 2024, the facilities need to be on a par, but the reality is they are not. If we do not push to put funding in place for that to happen, it will not happen in the short term. That is not acceptable.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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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.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister for agriculture and his guests to the Seanad.