Charlie McConalogue

I take this opportunity to congratulate the Irish soccer team on its wonderful performance last Sunday and on the Thursday before that. Football has given us some of our best national memories over the years. The recent matches, particularly the one on Sunday, provided, once again, wonderful national moments that brought the whole country together and brought great energy and excitement. I wish th…

I will be looking to see how we can maximise the benefit across the country. Young Troy Parrott is a wonderful example of the quality of young players we have in this country. That is something the Government is backing. As the Deputy knows, we stepped up very significantly in the recent budget by allocating €3 million to the development of football academies for the year ahead. We want to build o…

We have made a massive start and it has been very much welcomed within the footballing community. We look forward to seeing it reap benefits in the time ahead.

We discussed this in good detail earlier, but the objective will be to ensure there is as much of a legacy and impact across the country from the hosting of Euro 2028 as possible. Being able to host seven games as part of the tournament, including the quarter final, is a great opportunity. I have no doubt it will really take hold of the country over the course of the period. As I said, we estimate…

We are certainly determined, from a Government point of view, to maximise the opportunity and to ensure from a point of view of participation that every opportunity is taken to ensure it cuts through and gets people involved in football and other sport. The commitment of the Government in the most recent budget to football and the establishment of academies speaks to how we have been supporting fo…

We should not forget the support that we have given to football over the past number of years, which we continue to give. Some €75 million was allocated to the FAI between 2019 and 2024, with €30 million specifically to support football development aimed at promoting participation by young people. That has been added to in the most recent budget through the investment in the academies and the very…

I thank the Deputy. He has been a strong advocate, as has the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, for sports capital development and for backing clubs in his constituency. We are preparing to reopen to new applications for the community sports facility fund by the end of spring with the objective of making funding announcements by the end of next year. The recent pattern has generally been a round every two…

This is something Deputy Smith is committed to and he has been speaking to me about it separately. I look forward to visiting the Deputy and Deputy Maxwell in the constituency in advance of the next round opening up, and making sure that we provide every opportunity for clubs to apply and to be funded. It is wonderful to see the impact and the value for money that any investment by the Government…

First, and as I have previously and consistently said, it is imperative that it is made clear that there is simply no place for abuse of any kind in sport and that there is zero tolerance for any actions that endanger welfare, whether for participants, staff or those who work for and support sports across the country. Sport Ireland, which is funded by my Department, works with national governing …

Sport Ireland has a comprehensive approach to athlete well-being and that is reflected in its athlete welfare policy under the high performance strategy, which runs from 2021 to 2032. To support that policy, national governing bodies are expected to develop their own internal documents, which reflect best practice strategies in respect of athlete welfare. In 2021, Sport Ireland introduced a cultu…

We do it by having the right policies and support network in place, as I said, in terms of the work over the past three or four years, in terms of developing the national approach and the programme to support this and, in particular, the appointment of the high performance culture and integrity adviser to support that work. The latter is an important piece to do with it. Sport Ireland certainly is…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Government investment in sport is essential to increasing participation levels in all sports, across all sectors of society. The allocation for the sports programme in budget 2026 is over €290 million, an increase of just under €60 million or 26%, compared to last year's allocation. When the national sports policy was published in 2018, it set a commitm…

I thank the Deputy for his advocacy in wanting to see this important project moved forward. There will come a point, because these will not be kept open forever. We need to make sure these projects get a move on. The Department has been tolerant to those awarded, but our objective at the moment is to try to make sure they are all moving. If they do not move, we will intervene and look to see how o…

I welcome the chance to speak on this motion today because this has been the single biggest issue affecting Donegal over my time in politics. It has been traumatic for every single family who has been affected by defective concrete blocks. It has been my objective throughout my time in politics and in Cabinet in the previous Dáil to work to ensure we get a scheme that would help people rebuild the…

I welcome the opportunity to speak here in the Dáil today to recommend the budget from the point of view of its impact on our sporting sector as well as our postal policy and post office network. The Government remains committed to supporting our sporting ecosystem in order that more people can participate in, and benefit from, sport and fulfil their potential, from grassroots right up to high-per…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an deis an t-eolas is deánaí a thabhairt don Teach faoi na pleananna forbartha atá againn don spórt agus táim ag súil le tuairimí na Dála a chloisteáil. I am glad to be here for these statements on investments in sport, a sector which is vital to our society both at local and national levels, and on the major sports events that Ireland hosts. The community sport facilities fun…

I thank everyone for the many contributions this evening. A significant number of Deputies came to the Chamber, and while we had almost two and a half hours of time, many people only had two minutes each. That shows the massive interest, recognition and respect there is for the role that sport plays in everyone's life and communities. It also shows the respect that everyone has for those who contr…

I thank Deputy Healy-Rae for raising this matter. I am glad to take it on behalf of the Minister for Transport, who, as the Deputy knows, has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding relating to the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015 and in line with the national developm…

I will relay to Transport Infrastructure Ireland that the Deputy has raised this matter in the Dáil. As I said, this has been strongly considered locally through Kerry County Council. It engaged consultants to review safety and capacity issues on the N22 and its approaches and to introduce improved active travel facilities at the N22-Park Road junction. Coming out of that proposal and consideratio…

I thank Deputy Kenny for raising this matter. I am answering on behalf of the Minister for Health. I have the details and response on the guidelines and policy around incontinence pads. I will give the Deputy these as part of my response but I assure him that I will be following this case up further, on the back of his contribution, with the Department of Health and the HSE. The guidelines and po…

Certainly, I will. Obviously, the parents have been through several challenges and the child has had a very difficult and challenging start to life. It is really important from the point of view of the State that the health service we provide be appropriate to the child's needs. It is important that incontinence pads be appropriate to and sufficient in number for the child to meet all his needs. I…

The images we see from Gaza and the horrifying humanitarian situation are truly appalling. The trajectory of displacement and disenfranchisement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank is unfathomable. More than 56,000 people have been killed in Gaza. These are the ones whose deaths have been verified. Many more bodies lie beneath the rubble. Behind each number is an individual, a loved one, and…

I thank the Deputy. In February of last year the Government agreed to a range of funding allocations of more than €800 million to affirm its commitment to work with the Northern Ireland Executive and with the UK Government to make cross-Border investments that will make the island of Ireland a better place for all of us who call it home to live. This is evidence of course of our commitment to Stra…

We are all united in this House on the importance of this project going forward. That is very much represented by the Government's financial commitment to the project as well. When the redevelopment of Casement Park was first mooted in 2013, a budget of £77.5 million was envisaged to complete the project, made up of £62.5 million from the Northern Irish Executive and UK Government at that time an…

I thank the Deputy. It is appropriate that we discuss the issue today, given the good progress we have seen. All of us welcome the commitment of €50 million from the British Government. Let us now continue to move forward. The stadium has been a tremendous loss to Belfast, the province and the island. It has fallen into disrepair and is not being used. We want it to be rebuilt and redeveloped so t…