On Monday I was delighted to have the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, in Carlow. We met an awful lot of clubs and the big question was when applications will open for the sports capital grants and when the funding will be in place. It is a huge issue and we need to let the clubs know. I also want an update on the merger of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, LGFA, and the GAA. What is the timescale for that?

I got an email yesterday and I want to relay some of it to the Minister of State. It says the Irish Dragon Boat Association is being threatened with extinction because Canoeing Ireland is changing its constitution and memo of association to state that it governs, controls and regulates all paddle sports in all their forms in Ireland. That is a huge concern for me. We have the dragon boat association headquarters in Carlow and there is a massive female membership there and it needs to remain viable. I ask the Minister of State to come back to me on that and I thank him again for visiting Carlow. It was a great day.

If I were to take that question I might be upsetting the plan here somehow, so I will leave it to the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne.

On the canoeing issue, we will get Sport Ireland to engage with the Irish Dragon Boat Association. It can do that. I compliment Deputy Murnane O'Connor and Carlow County Council on the work they are doing on the Barrow, boating there and the plans they have.

On the sports capital grant, which is of considerable interest across the House, the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform has to give us sanction to open it and we are having very good engagement with the Department and the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, as well. We hope to get that sanction soon, as I am aware there are a lot of clubs waiting around.

On the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association, the merger is a matter for the organisations themselves, but from a sports funding point of view and especially a sports capital point of view I think there is a problem because the GAA owns practically all the facilities in the world of Gaelic sports. From a funding point of view, there would have to be full and equal access going forward for men and women to those sports. I am coming across a number of examples around the country where women camogie players do not have access to a hurling pitch, for example, or ladies' football players have access on different terms. That will all have to come to an end from a sports funding point of view, regardless of the mergers.

Good luck with that one.