The FAI and the education and training boards, ETBs, run a player development programme in Ringsend, in Cabra and five other such programmes right across the country. It is a training course and the ETBs fund the bulk of it. Because of the type of course it is, they need a partner and the FAI is that partner. In Ringsend the course has been really good for the community over many years. I know it is the same for all seven communities in which the course is based. The programme has produced some incredible League of Ireland and international players, including Seán Gannon, Daniel Kelly, Abbie Larkin who plays for Ireland, Keith Buckley, Pico Lopes and Enda Stevens. They have produced many more over the years, so it is a really important part of player development and community development. All those players are fantastic footballers and they have been great servants to Irish football.

It seems that the FAI is now pulling the plug on this player development course, which is really disappointing. It only contributes 5%. It is minuscule, a tiny amount of money. When we consider that the FAI overspent by €200,000 on its budget last year, it does feel like grassroots football is paying the price for the FAI's PR moves. It feels like the FAI is turning its back on grassroots football. This is really not acceptable. We all know the FAI has its difficulties but courses like this contribute so much and they cost a minuscule amount of money. If the money from the overspend on the PR companies was put into these courses, they could continue for many more years to come.

While the FAI is cutting back on community services and its involvement in community sport and grassroots football, it is spending more and more on PR. That is completely wrong. We need the Minister to come in to discuss how we manage that. The FAI is saying it is looking at player development, but the reality is that it is not looking at it. It is spending more on PR and less on grassroots football. These are important courses. If it was not for these courses, it is more than likely that those kids would be hanging around on corners. We need to invest in these sorts of projects, not cut back on them.