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 Israel in September and October. I support the FAI's right to make this decision and the Government will not be calling for a boycott of these games. The FAI has made this decision in accordance with its obligations as a member of UEFA, the governing body and confederation for football in Europe, and having consulted with An Garda Síochána and other key stakeholders. The FAI has also briefed myself and the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, on this matter, and I understand that it will be engaging with the Norwegian Football Association to learn from its hosting of a match against Israel last year. I understand that the FAI is also continuing to engage with An Garda Síochána to ensure appropriate preparation for, and policing of, the home leg of the fixture. On a wider note, I want to reiterate that the Government remains committed to working with key partners to end the conflict in Gaza and to advancing a sustainable peace plan. We want all parties to adhere to their commitments in full, desist from any actions inconsistent with what has been agreed and continue to negotiate in good faith to ensure full implementation.
Sentiment score: 0.32
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 or proposal to UEFA, which was not supported by other member countries. The FAI, as is its prerogative, is working within its footballing union. It is an independent body within this country. It has taken up the matter within UEFA and is fulfilling its responsibilities in that regard and the Government supports its right to do so.
Sentiment score: -0.09
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 try to ensure there is a sustainable peace settlement in Palestine. As a country, we have also led out on the development of and are assessing the legal challenges around implementing an occupied territories Bill.
Sentiment score: 0.23
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.
Sentiment score: 0.11
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 opening a new round next month. The Department is currently collating feedback from sporting clubs and organisations which will provide valuable input to our ongoing preparations for that next round. I and my officials engage regularly with local authorities and national governing bodies and this engagement is helping to shape the criteria for the new round. New guidelines will be published in advance of the opening of the next round to ensure clubs have clarity in relation to the application round. We will also undertake a comprehensive communication round to help clubs make their applications. My aim is to have as many eligible sporting bodies as possible applying, by simplifying the application process and guide, and carrying out a wide-reaching communications campaign, including with local authorities and national governing bodies. Many clubs are relying on volunteers, and with a revised and simplified application and assessment process which my Department is implementing, it will be easier and quicker for clubs to navigate the system at all stages and allow for quicker turnaround times while also streamlining the workload for my Department. As I travel to many different parts of the country, I provide the opportunity for sports clubs to engage with me. I get their feedback on the challenges they face and how best we can make sure this next round of community sport facilities fund meets their needs as well as to give them as much information and answer as many questions as they have on how the programme and fund has worked and how they can best prepare for the next round. Once we finalise that review and publish the new round, we will communicate that clearly through the national governing bodies and through our sporting organisations.
Sentiment score: 0.46
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 return for the investment that we are making. I have tasked my officials with engaging in more detail with the Department of environment and the local authority structure about how we can better structure the collaboration in relation to identifying land and making sure that it is part of our wider policy analysis and sweep, to make sure that the provision of sporting infrastructure and amenity infrastructure is considered with regard to how we develop communities, particularly new communities.
Sentiment score: 0.55
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 requires everyone working together. Regarding the next upcoming round, we want to see that happen as much as possible. Also, with regard to long-term planning, there should be a joined-up policy and regulatory approach to make sure that land availability is considered in the context of supporting and growing a community.
Sentiment score: 0.51
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 Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage's officials in this regard and will liaise further with the Minister to assess steps that we can take to make real progress on this and on working with local authorities to identify and secure land. Once lands are acquired for sporting purposes, applications for capital investment, including equipment, on those lands can be supported by both the CSFF and the LSSIF. In line with previous rounds of the CSFF, a review of the current funding round is being undertaken and will be finalised shortly, in advance of it opening. My Department is aiming to announce the opening of applications over the course of this summer. Regarding the LSSIF, our current focus is on ensuring project delivery under the first two rounds and this process will inform any decisions regarding the timing of a future round.
Sentiment score: 0.35
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 establish that. One recent example I saw was a GAA club where the local authority had required that an area the size of a football pitch be made available to the club free of charge as part of a zoning permission for a new housing estate beside that pitch. That is the type of joined-up thinking we need to see more of and that is the objective.
Sentiment score: 0.23
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 Departments about that to see how we can do more. Tools are available to local authorities, like I described, to be able to identify lands and to help to make them available, but we certainly need to make that more of a priority and for it to become more standard practice in how we step out and plan for new communities and make sure that their sporting and recreational needs are fully catered for.
Sentiment score: 0.41
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 January 2026, the Government approved renewed funding for the post office network for the next five years, running from 2026 to 2030, at an enhanced amount of €15 million per annum from my Department. That has increased from €10 million per annum. In line with the programme for Government, the funding will support the stability and sustainability of the nationwide network of post offices, protecting and nurturing a commercially focused post office network. It will also support access for citizens to the key social benefits of the post office network and help citizens access services effectively and equitably. The Government also agreed the principles on which the funding model will operate, which include maintaining access to the network across urban and rural Ireland, aligning individual funding with criteria, including the degree of isolation and the sustainability of each post office, ensuring a minimum revenue threshold for post offices, and recognising offices of cultural or geographic significance, such as those on inhabited islands or in Gaeltacht areas. My Department is progressing the necessary legislation to place this funding on an appropriate statutory footing. I will shortly prepare a memo to bring to Government to publish the legislation which has been drafted in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General. As matters stand, that funding is being provided from the start of this year by An Post to the post offices. Once the legislation is passed by this House, we will reimburse An Post and provide that funding for this year. Decisions relating to the network, including decisions relating to specific post offices, are always operational matters for the board of An Post and the management of the company.
Sentiment score: 0.31
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 legislation has been facilitated, we can make the €15 million payment for this year to An Post. This will cover the funding the company has already given post offices since the start of the year and the funding that is required to carry post offices through to the end of the year and, going forward, to 2030.
Sentiment score: 0.11
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-year agreement as opposed to the three-year agreement it is replacing, has been very much welcomed by postmasters throughout the country and the Irish Postmasters Union. It reflects the commitment of everyone in the House, including the Deputy and I and, in particular, the Government, to supporting the post office network. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and for his ongoing advocacy on behalf of the post office network and of its importance to local communities.
Sentiment score: 0.72
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, and also the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. Deputies will be aware that these funds are critical to advancing the development of sporting facilities in different counties and parts of the country. This infrastructure is key to sporting participation and success and we will continue to invest in it. One of the benefits of the investment we have seen as a result of the community sports facilities fund over the last years has been a growing level of participation. Sport Ireland's sport monitor shows that just under 50% of the adult male population now participate in sport at least once a week and among women, just 3% less than that, at 47%, participate in sport at least once a week. Significantly, in recent years we have seen the closing of the gender gap between the participation levels of men and women. This success is putting significant additional pressure on our sporting clubs and organisations in relation to the need for facilities and the quality and standard of facilities. This is all a result of that success. The Government's objective, through grants from the community sports facilities fund, is to work with clubs to help them develop their facilities. We have seen the significant impact these grants have had since 1998 when the community sports facilities fund, previously the sports capital fund, was established. A total of €1.4 billion has been invested in grants to clubs, with 19,000 different projects supported. There has been a significant and generational change in the quality of facilities across the country as a result. The most recent round saw the largest ever investment in the community sports facilities fund, at just under €270 million, with over 3,000 projects supported and 40 different sports types benefiting. We are now in the process of preparing for the next round. Significant work on a review of the previous round has been undertaken. We are working towards being ready to open for applications next month. We also have to finalise our engagement with the Department of public expenditure in advance of that. A lot of work has been carried out. We are also in the position of finalising a new communications or IT platform on which applications will be received. Everyone involved with clubs across the country will be very familiar with the OSCAR platform, which has been in place for over 20 years. Work is being finalised on a new platform which will be ready to accept applications on this occasion. It will be more user-friendly for clubs and for those making applications. We are also finalising the finer detail in relation to the terms and conditions and how the scheme will operate. These will be made clear to clubs when we open it up. This applies to the standard club applications, which, under the previous round, were for a maximum grant of €200,000, and the regional applications, which were for a maximum grant of €500,000 under the previous round. The stream within the community sports facilities fund for equipment grants will be available again this time around. That was capped at €70,000 last time around. Clubs can apply for that. We had discussions earlier about the challenges of getting access to premises. Through this round, we want to bring about more collaboration around how people provide facilities where clubs do not have premises. Basketball and boxing clubs, for example, which may not have a premises and instead rent premises, are eligible to apply for equipment grants. Clubs must have a lease or ownership of a premises if they are applying for a capital development grant, but not so for equipment grants. This is certainly an option that clubs will be able to avail of as well. I am meeting many clubs to gain feedback and provide information opportunities to clubs in different counties. We are also engaging on their experience of previous rounds of funding. The information gathered as part of that will help inform the review of this round to make sure it is as workable and practical as possible for clubs and to address the particular challenges we see as regards areas that have growing demand and sports that may have been underfunded in the past. We are working towards being able to open up the fund, all things going well, next month, pending Government approvals, and to have an application round over the next months.
Sentiment score: 0.27
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 through on. We will be monitoring that closely. We are not talking about the next year or 18 months, but a time beyond that, perhaps in a couple of years. We will monitor it as it goes. We will monitor that closely. We are not talking about the next year or 18 months. We are talking a couple of years beyond that. We will monitor it as it goes. There will be one round of the LSSIF over the Government's terms. We are considering the caps as part of the review. The Minister and I will engage with the Department of public expenditure and across government as well to make sure that the funding envelope can be as strong as possible. That will inform where we are at with the caps as well in terms of the level of funding that can be made available and our general guidance on that. Going around the country, I met Deputies McGrath and Cleere in their own areas. I know they have many projects they want to see going forward. There is real demand. It is exceptionally rare that I visit a club or an organisation that is not under pressure for capacity and space. That is a reflection of the really strong work that the volunteer input that drives our clubs and makes support possible in communities is achieving. From a Government point of view, we have to work to try to support clubs with their key priorities in how they are developing their club best to meet the needs of their members and the participation demands that are on them as well. We look forward to working closely with the Deputies to finalise the detail of this review, and then to having a round open over the next number of months and to make sure that it is as practical and as accessible as possible for clubs to be able to participate in it. We will all work collectively as a Government then to try to support the great work happening in our communities, driven by clubs and underpinned entirely by a voluntary commitment and effort. It makes such a difference and is such a gift from those people to their local communities in terms of the time they give up throughout their week for a wonderful dividend with sport being part of more and more people's lives on a regular basis.
Sentiment score: 0.23