Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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14. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the way the sports action plan is delivering on greater participation for disadvantaged communities and women; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47523/22]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Sports Action Plan is based on a "Sport for All" approach that is aimed at ensuring that all persons have the opportunity to partake equally in sport and physical activity, regardless of gender, social-economic status, age, disability, or membership of minorities.

Increased participation in sport is a key objective of my Department. In pursuit of that objective, at the end of November 2021, I launched the Sports Action Plan, which specifically includes a series of actions and initiatives aimed at increasing participation levels across the board.

The plan's emphasis is heavily orientated towards increasing inclusion, diversity and equality in sport, an emphasis that is reflected in the specific commitment to establish an Inclusion, Diversity and Equality Fund to promote increased and sustainable participation in sport among children, adolescents and young adults, those from lower socio-economic groups, persons with a disability, the LGBTI+ community, the Traveller community and other ethnic minorities.

The total amount of funding allocated from Dormant Accounts for such disadvantage-related projects this year is €12 million, more than twice the amount available a number of years ago. 

In relation to participation in sport by women and girls, in 2021 Sport Ireland launched the Girls Get Active Research Report. Following on from that report, Sport Ireland created a new funding strand to support Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) in the creation of physical activity programmes targeting teenage girls.

At present, Sport Ireland is working to establish a brand identity for teenage girls’ programmes rolled out by LSPs and NGBs. Sport Ireland is also tendering for the roll out of a communication and activation campaign targeting inactive teenage girls in Ireland. This will be the first time a dedicated national physical activity campaign has ever been created for this target group and highlights our commitment to motivate teenage girls to be more active.