Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 March 2026
534. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the steps his Department is taking to support wider diversity and participation in sport from underrepresented groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17204/26]
View answerThis Government is committed to a "Sport for All" approach aimed at ensuring that all persons can partake equally in sport and physical activity, regardless of gender, age, social-economic status, disability, or membership of minority groups such as the LGBTI+ community, the Traveller community or other ethnic minorities.
Sport Ireland's network of Local Sports Partnerships plays a crucial role in implementing the National Sports Policy and increasing participation levels in sport and physical activity particularly in underrepresented groups.
In January, I announced a record level of core funding investment in sport for 2026. The LSP network was allocated €12.66 million, an increase of 5.9% on 2025. This is supplemented by additional investment from other funding streams, including Dormant Account Funding and the European Social Fund Programme.
€500,000 was allocated to Local Sports Partnerships through the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion fund as part of Dormant Account Funding for Sport in 2025. This supports projects that remove barriers to participation in sport and physical activity for individuals from diverse and underrepresented communities. A dedicated €1 million Disability in Sport funding stream is also in place since 2025.
In addition, Sport Ireland has been awarded €11 million from the European Social Fund Programme to implement a social innovation and inclusion programme over the 2021 – 2027 lifetime of the Programme. This has enabled Sport Ireland to establish the Sport4Empowerment Programme to use sport and physical activity for social inclusion and empowerment. This programme targets four population cohorts, in the form of youth at risk, ethnic minorities, persons living with disabilities and those from a disadvantaged backgrounds.
As Minister for Sport, I will continue to promote sport to all cohorts and work to remove barriers to participation.
