Mr. Kieran Mulvey:

I think the record of the House stands as to what I said last week regarding the funding of the IABA. I made a very clear commitment that it would not be touched but that we would have to satisfy ourselves regarding certain governance considerations. We will work those out with the IABA in time because we are obliged to do so under our statutory obligations.

Whereas the Minister may give policy directions on sport policy, the onus is on the board of Sport Ireland exclusively to decide on the criteria. We are required to have that responsibility to the Minister, the Oireachtas and this committee. We will work out with them what we need to do and sort out the situation in dialogue with them. There will be a positive dialogue because from what I have heard this morning we are both committed to ensuring that nothing upsets the arrangements for Rio and the ongoing situation we need to address. Issues have arisen that need to be addressed and we need now to put aside the comments all of us have made and work together. As the Chairman acknowledged, I have a very good working relationship with Joe Christle as does the chief executive. We need to work these issues out and we will work them out.