ESRI REPORT INTO IRISH SPORT:AN OUTDATED Government policy and significant gender gap were identified as inhibiting the future prosperity of Irish sport in a report released by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in conjunction with the Irish Sports Council yesterday.

"Current policy appears to be out of step in terms of two broad themes," stated the report, with too great an emphasis on traditional team sports that receive the "lion's share" of funding and an over-reliance on "the provision of facilities to increase participation in sport, yet an accumulation of evidence now suggests that reliance on facilities is unlikely to yield the best returns."

The report, entitled "Sporting Lives: An Analysis of a Lifetime of Irish Sport" was compiled by economists Pete Lunn and Richard Layte, calls for an urgent need to update policy.

The GAA receives over one third of grants under the Sports Capital Programme, "thereby receiving much more funding than other sports that are already more popular and are continuing to grow in popularity."

Sports Council chief executive John Treacy distanced himself from the report's policy implications when asked whether they could lead to a restructuring of future grant aid for team sports.

"These policy implications were written by the ESRI," said Treacy. "Obviously they haven't been brought to Council level or anything like that at this particular time. ESRI are putting these things up for consideration."

The gender imbalance is most notable in the drop off of team sport participation rates among girls in their late teens. By the age of 20, 66 per cent of male respondents were playing sport compared to just 36 per cent of females.

The report also states 76 per cent of adult sport is individual rather than team pursuits.