Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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The Government continues to support the hosting of major sports events in Ireland and to explore further hosting opportunities.

This is evidenced by the Government’s support for events such as the US College Football Classic every August from 2022 – 2026, the hosting of the UEFA Europa League Final in 2024, the Ryder Cup in 2027 in Limerick and the EURO 2028 football championships, which UEFA recently announced will be held in Ireland and the UK.

In line with the commitment in the Programme for Government, a Major International Sports Events Policy is currently being developed by my Department. The aim is to establish whether and how Government should support major international sports events, the benefits it should seek to derive from them, the supports it could offer and the kind of events it should prioritise for support. This will provide the basis for a strategy to support and attract major international sports events and for an assessment model based on the identified priorities.

As part of this policy development, focused consultations with key stakeholders have been held and a public consultation has been completed. My Department has undertaken research, including consideration of the policies and strategies in place in other countries.

A draft high level policy paper is currently the subject of consultation with other Government Departments and it is intended to submit a refined policy to Government in 2024. The policy and strategy will inform the approach to bidding for major sports events in the future,

The Deputy will appreciate that the bidding processes for major sports events can be very complex and that confidential commercial information and non-disclosure agreements are key features of such processes. Additionally, such bidding processes will typically feature a number of other potential interested parties. Accordingly, for the reasons outlined above, I am not able to specify which events my Department is currently engaged with or considering future engagement with. However, I can confirm any engagements by my Department in this regard are underpinned by an assessment of the economic, sporting and social impact of the events in question.