Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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110. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason all senior amateur adult club championship GAA games can continue but not senior amateur adult soccer games under level 3 Covid-19 guidelines. [26197/20]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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At its meeting on Thursday 17 September, the Expert Group on Return to Sport, which is chaired by my Department, considered a range of questions from the sporting bodies on the Government’s Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with Covid-19, including a request for clarification as to the interpretation of ‘Club Championship’.

The Expert Group advised the sporting bodies that in the Plan, Club Championship refers to ongoing senior national competition or equivalent. Senior in this context means adult competition. The Expert Group were clear that no exemption would apply in the case of underage competition at any level. Sport Ireland has communicated this clarification to the sporting bodies.

The Sports Bodies are applying this guidance as it relates to their own competitions, however, in recognition of the need for everyone to reduce their social contacts in the capital, the Expert Group has asked the sporting bodies to consider what fixtures and events scheduled in Dublin in the coming weeks can be postponed without unfairly impacting on athletes and teams competing in national championships. All of these measures are aimed at reversing the deeply concerning trend of the virus in Dublin, by encouraging the adherence to public health advice, in particular, to reduce congregation.