Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Maybe they would. There is a combination of two things here. The events, including the inquiry precipitated the movement and the reforms in the OCI. Maybe the fact there was an inquiry precipitated the hand over of the payments. Would it have done that without the inquiry? I do not know. I do not know if it would have cleaned up its act without the inquiry, but I do not think it would. I do not know whether Mr. Pat Hickey would still be there had these events not happened. If we had had the panel investigation that it was looking for, I do not think the emails would have been handed over. I do not want to go any further down that road but it is unlikely that they would have been handed over in that case. They would have been kept to an internal inquiry within the OCI, when it would have had access to its own emails.

I disagree with the Deputy using expressions such as "the report would then be a damp squib". Remember, the emails were important, as the Deputy rightly said. They were vital and they justify the report in themselves because they are such important evidence but there was more than just emails. I do not want to pretend it was just emails. The athletes and people who complained were interviewed. The public complaints came to the fore and they were shocking. It is not just a situation where issues of money and the distribution of tickets was shocking, but the treatment of the public and individuals was shocking and that came to light because of the report. One of the recommendations made by the judge in his report was very sensible, and it was a recognition of the fact that people looking for tickets were so desperate. They did not have a voice. It was one of the iniquitous things about what was happening. They did not have a voice, they were all individuals who felt helpless and vulnerable. He has advised them to get together in future so that there is a voice for athletes and the people looking for tickets and that this cannot happen again. These people have a voice in the report and because of the judge could tell us what happened. We suspected this but we did not know it; he got enough evidence for it. Therefore, the report is not just emails.