Mr. Joe Christle:

Pardon me, Chairman, and I am sorry Senator, but I am just trying to indicate that a recommendation was put by me to the chief executive of the Sports Council that if the IABA waived the exclusivity of service contract then his experience and expertise in the high performance programme couild be provided and shared. We have heard from some of your colleagues that the high performance programmes in the other sports are not producing the same level of medals or the same levels of international success. The proposition was that he would be able to be paid either by the Sports Council, the Institute of Sport, Campus Ireland or whatever group out there to provide this expertise to them and share it with them.

If it was the case that the IABA wanted to get rid of him or did not want him to stay, as I said, why would they have come up with all these different ways to try to overcome the obvious and inevitable funding issues that arise when one renegotiates the terms of one contract? Particularly in order to match the offer that he had from the US, it meant an increase of north of 50% and 60%; it is an enormous amount which has devastating effects down the way, unless one has the funding secured.