I am speaking today on behalf of the Wade family in my constituency. They had great success in the European kickboxing championships in Italy last year. The three Wade siblings, three unique young people, are Abbie, who is 13 years old and won two bronze medals; Ryan, who is 16 years old and won one bronze medal; and Amy, who won two gold medals and was named as the fighter of the tournament. They represented their country with pride and distinction against other national teams from across Europe and around the world. However, unlike those other national teams, the Wades and others like them representing Ireland in martial arts championships did not receive any support from the State even as they donned the green jersey on behalf of the country and represented it in a sport they love. Teams from other countries receive that support. In that context, it is important for the Government to consider how we incentivise and encourage elite performance at juvenile level in the lesser recognised sports. I encourage the Minister to take up the matter with the Minister for sport.

I thank the Deputy for informing and educating me about the success of the Wade family in kickboxing. As the Deputy knows, Sport Ireland is the entity that allocates funding directly to the relevant national governing bodies. I am concerned to hear that they received no funding whatsoever. This is an issue that I will raise with my colleague the Minister for sport. The way we decide how funding should be allocated is on the basis that Sport Ireland has the significant say in the distribution of funding. I thank the Deputy for bringing the matter to my attention. I will raise the matter with the Minister for sport.