Sport and Recreational Development
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-03
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Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal

I propose to take Questions Nos. 142, 143, 159 and 179 together.
I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. As she knows, the operation of the League of Ireland and its academies is driven by the Football Association of Ireland, which, like all governing bodies, works independently. It is like all the governing bodies that we, in the Government, want to support. I agree with the Deputy that it has been wonderful to see the growth of, and the momentum behind, the League of Ireland. It is great that every Friday night, if you cannot make it to a match, you can watch the round-up and the great product that is on offer. There is excitement and atmosphere at grounds around the country. That is continuing to grow. It is something the Government wants to support and back.
I was pleased to announce a €3 million multi-annual allocation as part of the most recent budget to support the development of a modern and professional soccer academy system that will provide the structures and pathways required to support future generations of Irish players, male and female, and maximise the potential of Irish football. This is on foot of the programme for Government commitment to exploring new mechanisms for the creation of football academies.
This builds on the additional funding of €1 million provided by my department to the FAI last year, which enabled it to produce a detailed report on the League of Ireland academies system. That funding also enabled the appointment by the FAI of an academies administrator to support the development of new academy programmes and to track their impact. The report benchmarked Irish football academies against international standards, based on an audit of existing academy structures and needs, and provided a basis on which to commit to multi-annual funding support.
One of the few benefits and dividends we have seen from Brexit has been our young players increasingly staying in the country. That has added wonderfully to the spectacle we are seeing in the League of Ireland. Of course, while players are, by and large, staying in the country until they are 18 years of age, we want to ensure that they have the pathways to excellence and to become the strongest and highest performing they can be in their careers.
That is why we are investing, through the academies, in supporting those athletes.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-03/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:02+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-03