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The establishment of a Republic of Ireland women's U21s or U23s team to bridge the gap between U19s and senior level remains in limbo as the FAI wait for further guidance from UEFA, but head of women’s and girls’ football Lizzy Kent has suggested an alternative plan is in the works. Kent was in FAI HQ yesterday to offer on update on the progression of the Women and Girls' Football Action Plan, which was unveiled by her predecessor Hannah Dingley in March 2025. A Women’s Development League was launched this year with help from UEFA’s Women’s League Development Fund. The 12 current SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division clubs entered an U23s team into the new league, alongside 10 clubs from the EA SPORTS LOI Academy Development Programme. Kent – appointed last December – said that the long-term goal is for the Development League to evolve into a senior second tier below the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division. She said the intention is to stick with the Development League for one more year and then fold it into the LOI as a second division. However the wait goes on for the creation of another international underage side. Last March, FAI CEO David Courell said: "UEFA have made it clear in their women’s strategy that they will be introducing a new tier of competition for women’s international set-up. My understanding is that is likely to be at U21 level as opposed to what we’ve seen in other countries that are U23. So we are making a commitment that we will be one of the first federations to sign up to that once it comes to light. We’re just waiting for UEFA to kind of signpost when that will be." Republic of Ireland boss Carla Ward (above) admitted last April she'd like to see a development squad formed, "a group of players who we see as a pipeline for the senior team". Kent confirmed on Wednesday that the situation with UEFA has not changed, though she did accept something must be done quickly to aid flourishing talent. "There’s no current update from UEFA, so for me we need to move in that space now, and what we do needs to be suitable for us here in Ireland, that development space, that home-based space," Kent said. "It’s something we’re really pushing for and it’s an area we’re acutely aware we need to support. I would hope that we would have more updates in the not-too-distant future in regards to that. "Obviously having been involved with the U19s for a number of years, I'm acutely aware of the volume of players coming through. What we are looking to build and develop will need to be suitable to meet the needs of what we have here. If that comes in at a later stage, we'll cross that bridge, but we've got no confirmation on that yet." "It is a challenge. There's no point in saying any differently with regard to that." Kent has plenty of experience at the coal face of the women's game. She was assistant coach with Wexford during the club's first three seasons in the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division, then spent three seasons as head coach of the club's under-17s in the LOI WU17 Academy. At international level, she was assistant coach with the Ireland Women’s under-19s for four years and helped the team to qualify for the 2024 UEFA European WU19 Championships in Lithuania. She will present a fresh Action Plan some time next year, which will allow her to outline her own targets. Kent said there are now 47,000 female players registered to play the game in Ireland, up around 70% from 2023. To help harness that growth, five 'women’s and girls leads' have been appointed in the four provinces: Shelbourne players Pearl Slattery and Rachel Graham (Leinster), Conor McKahey (Munster), Glen Byrne (Connacht), and Aisling Conway (Ulster). There's obvious positives to take from rising participation levels, but improving infrastructures remains a challenge. The 2025 Action Plan said just 33% of amateur clubs have female-friendly facilities. "At the moment, there is an audit (of grassroots clubs) happening," said Kent. "To give you exact details, I can't. What I can tell you is that there is an improvement on that, but I don't have specific figures on it at the minute. "It is a challenge. There's no point in saying any differently with regard to that. But it's a challenge that we're really eager to tackle because it's a very clear one in relation to barriers for participation. It's improving. It is improving. But we need to probably understand even a little bit more. "And then we need to actually support how we can build that out and how we can ensure that when we're talking in two or three years’ time, facilities are less of a conversation."