Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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245. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason such a high number of players of an organisation (details supplied) have been given elite athlete status and granted exemption while so many Olympic hopefuls have not received the same exemption. [5757/21]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's approach for all levels of sport, including high performance sport, is set out in the Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021 Plan for Living with COVID-19, published in September 2020. 

The comparatively higher number of players exempted under the Resilience and Recovery Plan in the organisation to which the Deputy refers mainly reflects the team-based nature of the sport concerned in contrast to the individual nature of most Olympic/Paralympic sports.  

The priority for high performance sport at all times throughout the Covid-19 pandemic has been to:

1. Protect the health and wellbeing of athletes and support personnel.

2. Ensure Irish athletes are not competitively disadvantaged in the build up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are now due to take place in the summer of 2021.

Sport Ireland, which is funded by my Department and is the statutory body with responsibility for the development of sport, including high performance sport. With the full support of Government, Sport Ireland is working with the National Governing Bodies of sport to ensure that all those who are Olympic/Paralympic bound are able to continue to train and compete. If there are athletes who feel they have been excluded, they should raise this through their respective National Governing Body.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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246. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason the players of an organisation (details supplied) are currently able to book sports facilities for individual training sessions while athletes training for the upcoming Olympics are denied access; and the scientific reason for same. [5758/21]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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In the current Level 5 restrictions, no sports training is permitted, except for individual exercise or exercise with members of your own household, within 5 km of your home. There are a number of exemptions to these restrictions, for professional, elite and high performance sport, as set out in the Resilience and Recovery Plan 2020-21: Plan for Living with COVID-19, published last September.

Sport Ireland, which is funded by my Department, is the statutory body with responsibility for the development of sport, including high performance sport. Athletes supported by the Sport Ireland International Carding Scheme and members of high performance teams funded by Sport Ireland are permitted to continue training during the current restrictions.

Sport Ireland have engaged with National Governing Bodies to ensure that athletes who have qualified or deemed likely to qualify for the Olympic and Paralympic Games have the necessary facilities to train in their specific sports. Many of these athletes are continuing to train at the Sport Ireland Campus in Blanchardstown, which has been available to high performance athletes and teams since last June. Independently-run facilities that provide a training base for high performance athletes are encouraged to remain open for this specific group of individuals, however it is a decision which lies solely with the facility itself. Each sport facility that is managed independently of Sport Ireland may develop their own policy on how they manage access to their facilities, subject to full compliance with the prevailing Government guidelines and public health requirements.

Should an athlete not have the appropriate facility in their area, athletes should engage with their National Governing Body for an optimum alternative solution.