Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Mulvey for his presentation. He has been before the committee before and his reputation precedes him. My party will absolutely support his appointment as chair of Sport Ireland. We are fortunate to have somebody of his calibre, skills and patience to take on the job at hand. Ordinarily, the witness would be able to leave meetings of this kind quite speedily but, unfortunately, because of what has come into sharp focus over the past number of days, as the Chairman alluded to, the issue is worthy of further discussion.

When somebody such as the witness appears before the committee, generally I ask what we can do for them as legislators. Our role, in terms of sport or any other area, is to enact laws. It is for the Government to provide funding but for us as mere parliamentarians our role is to draft legislation and improve legislation as it currently exists. The witness has set out the background to the current situation in respect of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association. Effectively, it is giving the two fingers to Mr. Mulvey as chairperson of Sports Ireland, it is giving the two fingers to the taxpayers, it has already given it to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport so it somehow believes it is insulated from reality, authority and, more important, the paymaster, the Irish people. That is appalling given the context in which we are trying to develop our high performance sports.

What changes would the witness like to see put in place to strengthen his hand as chairman of Sports Ireland to allow him go back to the individuals, the CEO, the chairman and the board of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association and to put him in a position to say it cannot continue to perform as it has been doing and if it continues to do so funding will have to be removed. Who pays the CEO of the boxing association? Who funds the chairman's trips around the world to various events? I do not know if he is paid as an executive or remunerated through expenses. It is a classic case of the green blazer brigade exercising authority for the sake of it to protect its own castle. It is continuously poking the finger in the eye of the taxpayer. It is damaging the reputation of Ireland abroad, that a person of the calibre of Billy Walsh moves to the US. I have listened with interest to what he has had to say in the past couple of days. My heart goes out to him. He is imbedded in Irish sport and his heart is in it. I am taken by what he said that from the age of seven years this was the job he wanted. He has it, he has performed to the highest standard possible and he has been told, "Good luck and thanks for the dance" because a small group of green blazers will not relinquish control.

What legislation does Mr. Mulvey need as part of his armour to put him in a strengthened position where he is not just left with threatening to remove funding at a time when there are so many good athletes? Mr. Mulvey is caught between a rock and a hard place. He has good athletes who are capable of winning and all he can say is that he will hold back the money. Who suffers? It is the athletes and the reputation of the country. What suite of measures need to be put in place, given that a dysfunctional amateur association is not living up to the standards we all expect? It has the ball and is holding on to it and in the process it is giving all of us the two fingers. It is an appalling situation. It is sad given that there are so many volunteers. In my own county I know the work that is being done by boxing coaches and people who are involved in the sport. They have played such an important role in the lives of teenagers and young people who, in many cases, might have taken another path were it not for the fact that they had the support of volunteers. There is a handful of people at the top who do so much damage to people's lives.

Who are we talking about? Can Mr. Mulvey name the executive? I am sure it is a matter of public record. I would Mr. Mulvey to tell me who is the chief executive, the chairman and the couple of directors with whom he has had most contact. He does not have to cast any aspersion on them, as I am sure he will not. He is a diplomat in that regard but let us have their names out today.