Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Friday, 18 August 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

Report into Ticketing at Rio Olympic Games: Discussion (Resumed)

9:00 am

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Let me answer the last question first, before I forget. I just do not know the answer to that question. Quite obviously I do not know the answer to who knew what about this. Deputy Munster can ask the OCI representatives that question when they come in later. I do not know who knew about it.

We know that much of the activity in that area within the OCI, including the whole ticketing area, was exclusively negotiated by Mr. Hickey. We know that from the report - that is another useful finding of the report, by the way. Deputy Munster should ask the OCI representatives later because I do not know the answer, but obviously they will know.

Let me get back to the first question. Deputy Munster asked about when we met Mr. Hickey in Rio and he said he was not going to have an independent on the investigating panel - I think that is what it was called - whether it set off the alarm bells. The alarm bells were set off long before that. There were indications some days earlier that he was not going to have an independent on the panel. However, I was determined to ask him that, not to set the alarm bells going but to ensure that was the position and to decide what to do as a result. Let us be absolutely straight about it: that is why we went to see Mr. de Kepper. It was in case Mr. Hickey said "No", which he did - he said there would absolutely be no independent. I had arranged beforehand, in anticipation of that position, that we would seek out Mr. de Kepper to ask him to intervene, in effect to ensure that there was an independent on the panel. The alarm bells certainly were set off about the consequences - we were kind of ready for that.

It was more than an indication of reluctance; it was a straightforward refusal. There was no equivocation at that meeting. When I said to him that we needed an independent on the panel and that we needed to ensure it would be independent, there was no equivocation. The answer was "No" and that the panel was not going to have an independent.

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