Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will respond to the question on the sports capital programme because it is an important issue in which people are very interested and about which some people may be uneasy. Deputy Troy expressed a certain amount of unease about the programme and it is fair enough to do so. I want to ensure this programme is utterly fair and that no one will come to the conclusion that there has been political favouritism or interference in the process. The assessment manuals will be made available to everybody in order that they can see the basis on which decisions are made, which is without fear or favour. All activities under this programme will be subject to freedom of information, which will help make the process more transparent. There is an absolute determination that this will be done in a completely upfront and above board process. The Deputy should not have any doubt about that.

I do not know exactly how the process worked in the past because I was not involved in it. However, if there are worries about the past, I ask Deputies to tell me what they are and I will do all I can to ensure cases that people may have found disturbing are not repeated.