2026-01-20

131. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he accepts that safeguarding in sport must extend beyond child protection to include clear and enforceable adult safeguarding standards; the steps taken by his Department and Sport Ireland to ensure consistent adult safeguarding policies across all sports organisations; and if he will introduce a requirement that all sporting bodies adopt such policies as a condition of public funding and affiliation. [3661/26]

Safeguarding in sport must be extended beyond child protection to include clear and enforceable adult safeguarding standards.

I thank Deputy O'Donoghue for his question on an important issue. As we know, everyone involved in sport in any capacity, regardless of age, should be able to enjoy an experience that is free from any form of abuse. The creation of a culture that promotes the safety and welfare of all involved must be at the core of the operations of all of our national governing bodies of sport. Sport Ireland, as the authority tasked with the development of sport in Ireland, works with the NGBs to ensure that appropriate safeguarding and athlete welfare policies are put in place, as well as mechanisms to handle complaints or issues when they arise. Sport Ireland launched a national code of conduct template for sporting organisations in 2023, setting out guidelines and principles promoting the behaviours and conduct expected from athletes, coaches, parents and guardians as well as supporters, referees and officials, and club members. All NGBs were asked to use this template code of conduct as an opportunity to review their existing policies and procedures for handling code breaches in order to ensure a safe and respectful environment for all involved in Irish sport. In 2025, Sport Ireland commissioned Safe Sport International to conduct a needs analysis in the area of safe sport for adults. The analysis included extensive consultation with sport sector stakeholders, safe sport advocates and other relevant stakeholders, including people with lived experience in this area. Sport Ireland is currently considering the resultant report, which will be central to informing future guidance. Sport Ireland has an extensive suite of guidelines and codes of practice for the protection of children in sport, consistent with child protection guidance and legislation. There is regular communication between Sport Ireland and NGBs regarding NGBs' responsibilities in these areas. As Minister of State, I fully support the implementation of effective safeguarding policies and procedures for adults and children across the sports sector while acknowledging that NGBs are independent, autonomous organisations responsible for their own governance, including safeguarding procedures and disciplinary and complaints processes.

Given the increasing and well-evidenced recognition of abuse, coercive control and harassment experienced by adults across sporting environments, not only within elite levels of sports but within community clubs and local clubs, does the Minister of State accept that the continued absence of a mandatory adult safeguarding policy constitutes a serious gap in governance, accountability and participant protection? In light of the clear duty of care owed to all participants, how can the Minister for State justify the reliance on voluntary and inconsistent safeguarding measures, particularly where power imbalances, dependency and vulnerability are known risks? Concrete steps need to be taken to develop a comprehensive national framework for adult safeguarding in sport. It would be great if the Minister of State could outline a clear timeline for the introduction and implementation of mandatory safeguarding standards for adults across all sporting bodies. He mentioned guidelines. Is there anything more concrete on a timeline?

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It is crucial that everyone has a security and safety support network around them to ensure they can safely participate in sport. This takes a lot of effort by our clubs to make sure those structures are in place. It also forms a key part of the Government's work, with Sport Ireland, to ensure support and guidance are provided to NGBs. That is fully expected and required of the NGBs to continue to be able to avail of State support and funding. The ongoing work by clubs in all sports is exceptional. It takes massive voluntary effort by people every evening and at weekends to make sure support is available to young people and adults to participate in sports and structures are in place to ensure they are safe and protected from risk. We will continue to make sure this at the core of everything we do from a sporting point of view.

The absence of robust safeguarding policies in many sports often comes to light by chance. However, even minimal scrutiny reveals that safeguarding is frequently treated as an afterthought for adults. It is only considered once something goes seriously wrong. When these situations arise, clubs are often ill prepared to respond appropriately. Responsibility is often placed on ordinary volunteers and members, many of whom have no training or experience in dealing with domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, stalking or intimidation. They are left attempting to address policies retroactively rather than proactively. By that stage, damage has already been done, trust has been broken and the safety and well-being of club members may have been profoundly compromised.

Sport Ireland sets the criteria. It has a strong set of criteria for child safeguarding compliance. It is a compulsory requirement for NGBs and a critical element of NGB funding. These criteria are reviewed twice annually. NGBs are required to submit their child safeguarding statements to Sport Ireland for review. Sport Ireland expects all funded organisations, as does the Government which funds Sport Ireland, to maintain those high standards of governance, strategic planning and operational delivery, including but not limited to coaching, development, anti-doping and safeguarding. Failure to meet these standards that are agreed to, whether through governance shortcomings, failure to deliver on strategic objectives, financial mismanagement or actions that not supportive of the commitments to national programmes, such as safeguarding, may result in a range of consequences, including repayment, cessation of funding, suspension or termination of funding or of formal recognition. We have a strong oversight mechanism in place and we will continue to keep a strong focus on it.