I thank the Minister of State for still being present. I join with the congratulations offered to the women's national team on their heroic victory this week. I wish them the very best. I join with my colleagues and friends in offering our full solidarity to Deputy Byrne this evening. I would like to speak to the Minister of State about Tadgh, Nathan, Cian, Jack, Sam, Morgan - bear with me - Damien, Donal, Luke, Dominic, Finn, Sean, Niall, John, Enis, MJ, Fiachra, Hugh, Liam, Ronan, Evan, Kyle, Oisín, Heidi, Conor, Rory and Ryan. These young people have been heroes to me since becoming their football coach for the under-7s at Prosperous United AFC about eight years ago. Like most other coaches, we just volunteered as parents. We had no coaching badges and we had no experience, just the best of intentions. Since then, we have spent most Thursday nights together and most Saturday mornings together and, in truth, it is the highlight of my week. We have experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows together. The other coaches - Damien, Tommy and Diarmuid - and I made a commitment to this group many years ago that we wanted to teach them as much about life as we did about football. During that time, we have proudly watched them transition from children to fine young adults. They have learned about discipline, teamwork, integration, honesty, loyalty, belief, hard work, resilience and just so much more. I commend every volunteer coach involved with underage football in this country, whether it is marking pitches, washing jerseys, hanging nets, organising games, pumping footballs or doing training courses, all for the love of the game, or the players for love of the club and their community. As I see it, there are two important problems facing grassroots football in this country. One lies at the feet of this House and one at the feet of the FAI and the leagues. For those who get to play football, our league starts in early August and ends in May. That is the best part of ten months and during that time we have played ten league games this year. We have had more games called off than we have played. Ireland is simply not equipped for winter football. I know others in this House disagree but some clubs might have an AstroTurf pitch; most do not. We need to have an open conversation from a health perspective and from a climate perspective as to whether the future lies in AstroTurf pitches at all. What happens year after year in our league is that we end up cramming two or three fixtures into every week during late April and May just to get the season finished. There is very little enjoyment to that, as the Minister of State can imagine. I understand there would be significant criticism, and there has been, of the calendar season moving to summer football. If we act in the best interests of the children we are volunteering with, then I struggle to see how we can be opposed to that. There will be pressure with competing sports but, in truth, that is happening already. The GAA season has expanded for many young people in the county and they manage to compete in other sports right throughout the year. Until national and regional sporting bodies start talking to one another in the best interests of the young people, that will continue to happen. There might be availability issues during the summer, whether it is for referees or pitches, but we need to get around that because I am not alone in being sick of calling off games and waking up on Saturday at 7.30 a.m. and waiting on a phone call or text to say, "No game again" or "No training again." It is just really frustrating. A reality check is needed between the FAI, the leagues and those who we are working on behalf of. What about the children who do not play football or who cannot play football? During the past couple of years of having the privilege of being spokesperson for children and young people, I have come to the conclusion that we are pricing children, young people and their families out of sport. It is happening quietly, but it is happening. Clubs are not rolling in cash. The ever-increasing cost of keeping a club going have resulted in the need to bring in huge sums of money annually. My understanding is the best-resourced clubs are those with someone on the committee who is adept at filling out grant application after grant application, or a crew that is willing to go to great lengths to fundraise every year to keep the pitches and doors open. If it costs €100, €150, or €200 to join the club before you even buy your boots, socks and shorts and pay for travel, what that results in is a cohort of children and young people simply never making it to the pitch. I ask the Minister of State again to support the Social Democrats' call for a €100 sports and culture voucher in budget 2027. What that would do is effectively guarantee access to sport for every child in this country. It would mean they could choose football. They might choose something else. It is a no-brainer.

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