The Federation of Irish Sport has published its reaction to the Budget 2025 details announced on Tuesday and Wednesday.
It is measured and pays tribute to the record level of funding, but it also reflects the frustration we have heard from several administrators
at the smaller than expected increase in core funding for NGBs and Local Sports Partnerships.
“Additional funding to the sport sector is welcome; however, the allocated 4% increase – €1.3 million – will not mitigate the rising costs of doing business for our National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs),” reads the statement.
“The NGBs and LSPs are responsible for the people and programmes that drive participation from grassroots all the way through to high performance. As stated in the Federation’s Pre Budget-Submission “Core Funding is used to strengthen the core of an organisation, not just maintain it.”
“Core funding allows NGBs and LSPs to recruit additional staff and retain existing staff, run programmes, and develop coaching to meet the growing demands and reduce barriers to entry into their sport.”
“The recent Community Sports Facilities Fund allocation, while welcome news for communities and individual clubs, does not address the myriad of responsibilities placed on National Governing Bodies, including development, education, ethics, equity, inclusivity, diversity, coaching, promotion, safeguarding, and good governance of each sport nationwide.”
“Core funding budgets have come under increasing pressure to deliver on regulatory requirements including pensions auto enrolment, governance compliance and reporting. There is a growing pressure point for our member organisations to retain staff and find sufficient resources to recruit much needed members of staff to activate programmes to grow participation.”
“Following the national high of our best ever performance on the international stage at the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, our members looked forward to an increase in core funding to operationalise their activities, comply with governance requirements and deliver the Government’s own national sports policy,” added Federation CEO Mary O’Connor.
“While funding in other areas is welcome, as is the announcement on taxation reform, the core funding increase fails to keep pace with inflation and will directly impact our members’ ability to deliver basic support across their sports in 2025.”
“The Federation of Irish Sport will engage with the Minister and his Department to ensure that the challenges facing the sector are clearly understood and addressed.”
Negotiation and representation with the Government are a continuum, even as we know that there will be a general election between now and the next round of day-to-day funding discussions.
The harsh political reality is that there are more votes in new facilities than in giving more administration funding to the people who run them.
The hope is that when the electoral imperatives that all Ministers and elected representatives have to be mindful of have passed, the more prosaic side of the funding equation, recognised by all as critical, can be addressed.
The next series of our Sporting Leadership Podcast Series, in partnership with PwC will kick off next week with a conversation with the Minister of State for Sport, Physical Education and the Gaeltacht, Thomas Byrne, TD.
The Sport for Business Membership comprises nearly 300 organisations, including all the leading sports and sponsors, as well as commercial and state agencies.
