I thank Deputy Ward for his question. National governing bodies of sport, such as the Football Association of Ireland, are independent, autonomous bodies responsible for the governance of their own sports, including the organisation of sporting fixtures, whether in domestic or international competitions. The Government has no role in deciding who plays who in international sports. The FAI is within its rights to decide to fulfil these upcoming UEFA fixtures and I note its intention to fulfil both fixtures against I…

The Deputy made the comparison with Russia in his contribution. To tease that out, the Russian exclusion from sporting events was a decision that was made by UEFA, the sporting body. It blocked and barred Russia from participating in competitions as did FIFA. The footballing body decided to do that as well. As we well know, in the European Union at political level, we have sanctions imposed on Russia. In regard to the participation of Israel, there is no such ban by UEFA or, indeed, FIFA. The FAI brought a motion o…

From a political point of view Ireland and the Irish Government has led out internationally in relation to the atrocities we have seen happen in Palestine as part of the conflict and in terms of providing leadership and trying to bring about a peaceful settlement to the conflict. We have set the agenda in many ways at European and international levels in relation to the approach and stance we took which subsequently many other countries rallied around as time went on. We continue to play our role internationally to…

The FAI is an independent organisation working within the footballing and governance structures internationally. UEFA has not prevented Israel from taking part in competitions such as happened in the case of Russia. The FAI is engaging with An Garda Síochána in relation to the appropriate policing arrangements for the game.

I thank the Deputy for the question. I know the sports facilities fund is something he is very committed to in relation to supporting clubs in his local area. In line with the previous rounds of the community sport facilities fund, a review of the current funding round has been undertaken and will be finalised shortly. It is anticipated that the objective of the next round will particularly target areas and sports that have been under-invested in over the years. We are working to be in a position to be ready for op…

Particularly in large urban areas such as Dublin city land can be a real challenge. That is why with the last round but particularly this upcoming round we are looking to encourage educational institutions as well as local authorities to work with clubs to make joint applications. For example, where we can get a school that has some land available, where facilities can be improved and the children can use that during the school day and a club or community can use it in the evening, we get a lot more participation r…

I have engaged on this and will meet local authorities across Dublin in advance of the round opening, with the objective of making sure that they are being as proactive as possible. I know from visiting a number of clubs and working with the Deputy in his own area that he and other representatives working with him are trying to ensure that the local authority is prioritising this as well. There are challenges, particularly in urban areas, but those are challenges that we want to try to do our best to address. It re…

The programme for Government commits to supporting local authorities in the acquisition of new lands for parks and playing pitches to help to build liveable communities. While neither of my Department's sports capital funding programmes, the community sport facilities fund, CSFF, or the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF, provide for the acquisition of land, I would be supportive of local authority acquisition of lands for sport and recreation purposes. I have asked my officials to engage further with the…

We need to do more on this. Certainly, with the next round of the community sport facilities fund opening over the course of this summer, we want to try to do as much as we can in that short timeframe to encourage collaboration between schools, local authorities and clubs. We also have to look at how we can do more to identify land and communal grounds where municipal-type facilities can be developed. The programme for Government commits to that. My officials and I are engaging with the Department of housing to est…

The key thing is that we have to make the biggest impact we can with what is available, and also look to grow what is available too. There are opportunities in many communities where there could be land available through schools and local authorities to collaborate with clubs. That is a message that we are getting out as strongly as we can with regard to this new round to encourage that collaboration, but there are also challenges regarding availability of land and it not being available. We are engaging across Dep…

I thank Deputy Ó Cearúil for his question and his ongoing advocacy on behalf of the post office network and its importance for local communities. The post office network is a key component of the economic and social infrastructure throughout the country. On the back of that, the programme for Government states that the Government will continue to provide the nationwide network of post offices with funding to ensure their sustainability and enhance the value they bring to local communities. In that regard, on 13 Jan…

My understanding is that, since the start of the year, the funding is being paid from An Post to postmasters. If there are any particular instances where that is not the case, I will be happy to have them followed up. That is my understanding of the situation based on the briefing I have received on it. An Post is due to get €15 million, which is an increase from €10 million last year. This requires short legislation going through the Houses. Our objective is to have that completed by the summer. Once that legislat…

There was very strong engagement between the Irish Postmasters Union and An Post in relation to agreeing the criteria for how the funding will be distributed. An agreement on its distribution, including the criteria around that for each of the five years, has been finalised and is now in place for postmasters. That Government commitment, under which we have increased our funding to the post office network by 50% since last year and increased certainty around the future of that funding by putting in place a five-yea…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 15, 16, 18, 19, 27, 33, 39, 40 and 56 together. I thank Deputies McGrath and Cleere for their questions. The programme for Government commits to continuing to support the funding of sports capital projects and assessing the distribution of funding in order to maximise participation in all sports at community and national level. My Department's Statement of Strategy 2025-2028 commits to continuing to invest in sports infrastructure through the community sports facilities fund, CSFF, …

I thank Deputies McGrath, Cleere and Ó Murchú. With regard to Deputy McGrath's question on the large-scale infrastructure fund, we have had two rounds of that fund so far, in 2019 and 2024. The national development plan provides for one round to be conducted and opened during this Government term. We expect it will be a couple of years from now, towards the latter end of the Government, because the current focus is on drawing down funding and making sure the projects funded in the most recent round are followed thr…

Gabhaim buíochas leis na Seanadóirí Harmon agus Ní Chuilinn. I thank them for coming together on a cross-party and cross-floor basis today as well. I do not think it is any accident that happened on the topic of sport because, as Senator Harmon said, sport is something that brings people together from all walks of life and, indeed, from all sides of politics as well. I also want to thank both Senators for taking the opportunity today to highlight the previous Oireachtas joint committee's report on inclusion in spor…

I thank the Senators for their contributions. I look forward to future debates on this matter. The more discussion and contributions we have around what we are doing and what we need to do more on, the better it will be in terms of what the Government and the State do to support both the sector and inclusion across it. There are a couple of other points I would draw attention to which there has been progress on. Sport Ireland has been awarded €11 million from the European Social Fund to implement a social innovatio…

I very much welcome the opportunity to address the House this evening on matters relating to football, the most popular team sport in Ireland. Football can take us from the absolute peaks of delight, such as when Troy Parrott's toe-poke delivered the miracle of Budapest, to the absolute depths of disappointment that we all know too well too recently. It brings whole communities together. It provides social and emotional networks and a common language that we can all understand. It is hugely important for physical w…

Deputy Ó Murchú is out of time.

I start by acknowledging and thanking Deputy Duncan Smith for requesting these statements. We have seen three and a half hours of statements and a really good, positive debate. The spirit in which the contributions have been made stand in very stark contrast to many of the other debates we have on the floor of the House. That reflects the fact that sport and football in particular brings out the best in everyone and brings people together. We have seen that here today. Through many of the contributions from TDs acr…