Ministers invite stakeholders to have their say in new National Sports Policy Framework
The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross TD and the Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan TD, today launched a public consultation process on the development of a new National Sports Policy Framework.
The aim of the consultation process is to give all stakeholders the opportunity to feed into the development of the new National Sports Policy. The policy will provide a framework for sport in Ireland over the next ten years and will set the agenda for Sport Ireland.
The public consultation process, along with relevant stakeholder engagement, will contribute to the delivery of the National Sports Policy. Submissions are invited from all relevant stakeholders over the coming weeks and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport proposes, following the consultation process, to prepare a National Sports Policy for submission to Government. The public consultation document addresses and raises questions under the following themes:
- Contribution of sport
- Participation
- High Performance
- Local and Regional Facilities
- National Sports Campus
- Governance
- Coaching
- Volunteer engagement
- Safety in sport
- Integrity of sport and international influence
- Sport in a cross-sectorial context
- Outdoor recreation
- Sports Tourism
- Financing Irish sport
- Measuring the impact of sport
Minister Ross said “I am delighted to launch the public consultation for a new National Sports Policy Framework. This is a very important consultation as it will give all relevant stakeholders an opportunity to make a real contribution to the new National Sports Policy Framework, which will be developed early next year. The framework will be the first of its kind for over 20 years and will set the agenda for sport over the coming years.
Sport is so important in Ireland, historically, culturally and economically. Its benefits are numerous, from the obvious health and economic benefits to the increasingly important social benefits of inclusion and relationship-building. It is vital that we get engagement from everyone involved in sport from ground level up on all issues relevant to Irish sport, from participation to high performance. I would like to invite all stakeholders to take this opportunity to have their say on the future of Irish sport and how sport will be delivered over the coming decade.”
Minister O’Donovan said “The consultation process on the new National Sports Policy provides an opportunity to everybody involved in sport to input their views, be they administrators, coaches and volunteers to participants, competitors and spectators. Sport Ireland, the National Governing Bodies of Sport, the Local Sports Partnerships and the many volunteers, coaches and administrators involved in sport are doing a lot of work throughout the country to increase participation in sport and support our elite athletes and the Government is strongly supportive of this work.
There is no doubt that there are challenges in a number of key areas to improve the delivery of sport and these need to be addressed in the new sport policy. It is only through feedback from all of those involved in sport that we can identify the challenges and opportunities and ensure that the right structures, programmes and infrastructure are in place to deliver the very best for Irish sport over the coming years.”
The consultation document, along with details of how to make a submission, are available on the website of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport:
http://www.dttas.ie/sport/publications/english/national-sports-policy-framework-public-consultation
The closing date for submissions is 17:00, 6 January 2017.
In line with established practice for public consultation and subject to considerations of confidentiality, submissions will be published on the Department’s website and are subject to Freedom of Information legislation.