Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his views on the latest ESRI-Irish Sports Council's report, Irish Sports Monitor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8517/09]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish Sports Council (ISC), which is funded by my Department, has a statutory role in encouraging the promotion, development and co-ordination of competitive sport and for increasing participation in recreational sport.

The ISC, under its research remit, is striving to develop a profound understanding of sport in Ireland that can inform policy and investment over the coming years. The ISC has commissioned the Economic and Social Research Institute to undertake studies on sport and physical activity on its behalf.

The 2007 Irish Sports Monitor (ISM) report, which was published in February, is the first in an ongoing series of annual reports that will measure and track participation in Irish sport. Based on a nationally representative sample of nearly 10,000 adults aged 16 and over the ISM offers the most detailed picture yet of sporting life in Ireland.

The 2007 ISM report provides a number of headline figures for participation in sport and physical activity in Ireland, which serve as benchmarks for future performance regarding physical activity, participation in sport and recreational walking, volunteering, club membership and attendance at sporting events. The report also reinforces previous research findings in relation to social and economic gradients in participation, and to the relative popularity of particular sporting activities. It also provides key new insights on issues such as Ireland's standing relative to international participation levels, seasonal and regional variations in participation, and links between nationality and playing sport.

The programme of research being carried out by the Irish Sports Council is very useful in informing the development of the Government's policy on sport.