Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. Sport Ireland is already in charge, as it were, because it is a statutory agency established by the Oireachtas. It is a combination of the old Irish Sports Council and the National Sports Campus Development Authority. It has power in terms of how funds are distributed and it can also distribute funds according to policy decisions of the Government. The policy decision in this case is that we move from voluntary code to a mandatory code and the bodies are reacting to that. In fairness to them, I chaired the grouping in Castleknock on the night when the policy change was brought to the attention of the national governing bodies and there was a broad welcome for it because they view it is a form of insurance policy for themselves. They do not want to be in a situation where they are before this committee or the Committee of Public Accounts about failures of governance. They want the assurance that they are being mentored and assisted as well, and that is what we are doing.