Sports Organisations

Traditional taekwondo, under the auspices of the International Taekwon-Do Federation, ITF, is the biggest martial art in the country, with an estimated 30,000 people practising it around the country. In Ireland, there are more than 350 ITF taekwondo clubs. One association, the Irish Taekwon-Do Association, represents approximately 100 of these clubs. The Irish Taekwon-Do Association and its international federation were only registered in 2007. The older taekwondo groups in Ireland are much longer established, both nationally and internationally, and their members are much more senior in rank, with numerous grandmasters and senior masters in the craft. On 4 October 2020, the Irish Martial Arts Commission, IMAC, which is the national governing body, NGB, for martial arts in Ireland, passed a motion recognising the Irish Taekwon-Do Association as the sole association member. By passing this motion, the IMAC, immediately excluded or locked out approximately 250 clubs nationwide. Since then, I visited a club in Kilcarbry, County Wexford, which is located just outside Enniscorthy, run by master Peter Crosby. The quality and standard of the skills being offered to both the young and not so young are immense. I was blown away by the activities. This move, in essence, excluded thousands of students of taekwondo from accessing public, taxpayer funding for courses in sports education and sport leadership, particularly for women. It has inhibited Garda vetting for instructors. It is obstructing the application of sports scholarships at university level, as some universities only recognise IMAC and Sport Ireland sports. In order to access these services, the other 250 clubs around Ireland will be forced to join the Irish Taekwon-Do Association, which is contrary to what happens in other jurisdictions. For example, in the UK, the British Government recognises the fragmented ITF world bodies under one umbrella, namely, the British Taekwondo Council. Funding and education courses are distributed equally and more fairly. In Ireland, however, this is not the case. IMAC and Sport Ireland allow other fragmented martial arts, such as karate in Ireland, to be recognised but not the fragmented strands of ITF. The Irish Taekwon-Do Association makes up the majority of the board in IMAC, comprising eight of the 13 board members on the committee. There is a huge conflict of interest in this regard. Eight members of the ITF, who do not recognise 70% of their own members, control the IMAC, which is a publicly-funded body. There are serious questions regarding governance and the existence of proper constitutional frameworks. All of this goes against the ethos and policies of IMAC and Sport Ireland around equality and inclusion in sports. I ask the Minister of State to request a formal update from Sport Ireland on its engagement with the Irish Martial Arts Commission and its implementation of the arbitrator recommendations of the Sport Dispute Solutions Ireland, SDSI. I also ask that Sport Ireland examines IMAC’s stance on excluding thousands from the services and funding offered by IMAC and Sport Ireland, which is, once again, public funding. Many taekwondo students from across Ireland are being excluded. They are seeking fair and equal access to the recognised sporting system and the opportunity to work with other organisations to strengthen governance, safeguarding, coaching standards, participation and welfare across the sports. Students should not be forced to join the Irish Taekwon-Do Association in order to access public funding. It should be for all who participate in the sport.

I thank the Deputy for his contribution and I note his requests. The Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Deputy Burke, is aware of concerns regarding the representation of organisations operating in similar sporting disciplines and codes within the recognition process for national governing bodies of sport, NGBs. However, it must be stated that the recognition process for NGBs is governed by published criteria and established procedures. Decisions regarding recognition are made independently by Sport Ireland. In particular, part of the criteria for recognition is that a recognised NGB must not already be involved in organising the same or similar sport. This criterion is essential to prevent duplication and the splintering of the sport ecosystem. Ultimately, it would be unsustainable for Sport Ireland to formally recognise multiple organisations as NGBs for the same or similar sports and provide core and high-performance funding on that basis. This is why Sport Ireland advises affiliation with existing national governing bodies, NGBs. Sport Ireland, which is funded by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, is a statutory body with responsibility for the development of sport, increasing participation levels and raising standards, including the allocation of funding across its various programmes, including NGBs, for sports development and high-performance programmes. Sport Ireland does not provide direct funding for clubs or individuals but channels the funding through the relevant national governing bodies. The Irish Martial Arts Commission, IMAC, is the Sport Ireland-recognised national governing body for martial arts in Ireland. Sport Ireland provides annual investment to this organisation to support the development of the sports within its structure. IMAC is constituted to represent a range of martial arts disciplines and organisations and represents those interests in its engagement with Sport Ireland. Taekwondo Ireland is recognised by Sport Ireland as the national governing body for Olympic-style taekwondo and is recognised by World Taekwondo and the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Sport Ireland and the European Taekwondo Union. Sport Ireland operates a formal recognition process for organisations wishing to become eligible for support as NGBs. The recognition criteria set out minimum requirements for NGB recognition and the additional criteria that may need to be met to receive financial assistance and investment from Sport Ireland. Organisations interested in engaging with Sport Ireland regarding recognition as a national governing body are encouraged to engage directly with Sport Ireland in that regard. Sport Ireland could then advise on the detail of the application process and consider the application on its merits. The relevant organisation can request a formal meeting with Sport Ireland to discuss its proposed application and the wider process prior to submitting a formal application for recognition as an NGB to Sport Ireland. All national governing bodies of sport recognised by Sport Ireland, such as the Irish Martial Arts Commission, are independent, autonomous bodies and are responsible for the operation of their own sport. National governing bodies are responsible for their own governance. This includes the support provided to their clubs, athletes and wider membership structure, and matters relating to members, events, disciplinary procedures, safeguarding, anti-doping compliance and the development and implementation of strategic plans to grow and sustain their sports at all levels. The national governing bodies of sport recognised by Sport Ireland are at the centre of Irish sport. NGBs are key delivering agencies for Sport Ireland in the achievement of its strategic and operational goals. Sport Ireland works across a broad spectrum of martial arts organisations to support the development of best practice in governance safeguarding, anti-doping, coaching standards, club development and the promotion of inclusive participation across all levels of sport. Neither the Minister nor the Department has any role in individual recognition decisions made by Sport Ireland, nor would it be appropriate for them to intervene in such decisions. While decisions on recognition are a matter for Sport Ireland, the Minister recognises that questions around representation, participation pathways and the development of sporting disciplines are important issues for organisations across the sporting sector, including those that are not currently recognised by national governing bodies.

There is something wrong somewhere when we have 30,000 people engaged in taekwondo to a high standard in Ireland. As I say, we are talking about youngsters who are knee-high right up to people who are much older practising this sport. There are 30,000, yet the overarching body that is recognised by Sport Ireland is excluding in excess of 20,000 of those from accessing the benefits of the funding from Sport Ireland. There is something wrong with the notion that Sport Ireland would say that is grand and that it will recognise only the umbrella organisation when 20,000 people who are practitioners of taekwondo are excluded. There is something wrong when IMAC is governed solely by a majority of people from the Irish Taekwon-Do Association. Let us not forget that this is public money and more than 20,000 people who are practising this sport are excluded because a decision was taken back in 2020 during Covid at an online meeting that the sole organisation would be the Irish Taekwon-Do Association. By passing this motion, IMAC immediately excluded and locked out 250 clubs right across the country. I have been contacted by many of them on foot of my visit to the Kilcarbury Club in Wexford. If this was not public funding, it would be a different issue, but when 20,000 people are excluded from benefiting from that funding by an overarching umbrella organisation, Sport Ireland has to intervene and ask the question. I asked earlier for a formal update from Sport Ireland on its engagements with IMAC and the implementation by IMAC of the Sport Dispute Solutions Ireland recommendations. I asked Sport Ireland to examine IMAC in particular regarding its stance on excluding thousands from the services funding offered by IMAC and Sport Ireland. I ask the Minister of State that those two requests please be met. We are not looking for the moon.

I thank the Deputy. I will convey his request to the Minister. I take on board what he is saying. The current national sports policy runs to the end of 2027 and is responsible for establishing Ireland's first national framework for sport, setting out objectives to increase participation, strengthen governance, enhance high-performance sport and increase investment across the sector. Development of the successor national sports policy is being progressed through a phased approach and will provide an opportunity to take stock of progress under the current policy and identify where future policy interventions can have the greatest impact. Through a performance evaluation, sectoral consultation, international best practice review, stakeholder engagement and policy mapping, the Department is undertaking a comprehensive evidence-gathering process to inform the successor policy. This may be an opportunity to re-examine the issues relating to taekwondo. The work is examining the effectiveness of existing policy measures and implementation structures, identifying areas where policy approaches may require strengthening and assessing future priorities for investment and action.