Dáil debate on increased funding for football on Wednesday

INVESTMENT: The FAI recently unveiled an €863m investment programme to develop the game at grassroots, national league and international level. File pic: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

A request for Irish football to benefit from an increased betting levy will feature in a private members motion to be aired in the Dáil for two hours on Wednesday.

The Labour party is calling on the Government to give its full backing to the FAI’s €863m investment programme, recently unveiled to develop the game at grassroots, national league and international level.

Eighty per cent of the spend is being sought through state channels, either at central or local level.

In their blueprint, the FAI have included among their proposed initiatives for raising exchequer funding an increase of the tax on betting from two to three percent.

According to the motion, between 20 and 30 per cent of bets placed in Ireland relate to football. This hike, suggested for Budget 2024, would raise €50m, providing a dedicated investment stream for investment in football and other sporting codes.

Other elements of the motion tabled are a programme to keep players in Ireland for a minimum of three years by funding the post-Brexit academy structure, leaning on educational links, as well as supporting a potential All-Island league.

Labour have selected a juncture sandwiched between the U17 Euros in Hungary that featured a predominantly home-based squad and the Women’s World Cup which only has two domestic players among the 26 chosen across the panel, including training players.

Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said: “It’s clear the FAI have turned a corner and football is having its moment, between the increased League of Ireland interest and international success.

“Now is the time to build on the momentum by elevating political discussion and take seriously the issue of funding the game we love. No other sport has lifted the most disadvantaged while making the entire country proud.” 

At least two ministers, one from sport, are expected to respond to the motion on behalf of the Government, with time allocated for other opposition parties to ventilate their thoughts on a matter that has garnered much debate since the FAI laid bare the infrastructural and facility deficits nationwide.

Former Ireland internationals Niall Quinn, Paddy Mulligan, and Turlough O’Connor are due to sit in the public gallery during the debate.

Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley has called on the Irish public to compel their local representatives to make overdue funding of football a manifesto priority for next year’s general election.

The Government have the option to accept, amend, or the unlikely move of rejecting the motion.

Separately, but linked to this live topic, the national league’s Premier Club Alliance club have called for clubs to remain the critical voice alongside the FAI in such debates and contend progress is reliant on cross-party collaboration.