Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses to the meeting. My first question relates to Sport Ireland's regulatory role. There is a slight contradiction in the opening statement, in which Sport Ireland is at pains to stress it is not a regulatory body yet the Sport Ireland Act confers considerable authority on it and, according to the opening statement, this is reinforced by responsibility for investing substantial amounts of public funding. Sport Ireland states it is there to empower sports organisations to take responsibility for their own performance and to have best practice. Do the witnesses agree this amounts to light touch or hands-off regulation?