National Governing Bodies
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-11
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Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal

Sport Ireland is always available to work with national governing bodies in respect of their governance and how they run themselves. In 2023, it set in place the governance code for sport. It also launched the national code of conduct template, which NGBs are encouraged to adopt to make sure the structures and policies they have in place, and within which their membership, oversight bodies and committees have to operate, work. As I said, the Federation of Irish Sport also has a disputes resolution facility in place.
We have seen massive evolution and development in sporting governance and organisation over the last generation. The development and establishment of Sport Ireland over 20 years ago and bringing our national governing bodies underneath it was a massive step forward, one which has been very productive and enhanced sport nationally. The funding we have provided has added to that.
Where one puts the line and how one empowers NGBs is an important issue, one that we have to keep under review and consistently learn from. It is important that, in as far as possible, it is the members who deal with issues, with good conduct, governance and codes to guide them.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-11