Mr. John Treacy:

Sport Ireland is also aware of media reports relating to rental payments made by the FAI on behalf of its former chief executive. Sport Ireland has no knowledge of any rental payments which may have been made. As with any NGB for sport, staffing and contractual arrangements are entirely a matter for the board of the FAI.

With respect to structural changes within the FAI, following the prior release of the FAI’s statement on the senior management structure and on 25 March, Sport Ireland received a letter from the new FAI interim chief executive, Rea Walshe, outlining structural changes within the organisation on the back of a review of its senior management structure.

The letter outlined that the board of the FAI had commissioned a review by independent consultant, Jonathan Hall & Associates, and had adopted its recommendations. It stated that the chief executive officer, Mr. John Delaney, had moved to a new position of executive vice president with immediate effect, giving an overview of this specific defined role. The letter also confirmed that Ms Walshe had been appointed as interim chief executive with immediate effect. Notwithstanding a media release from the FAI on Saturday, 23 March, the letter of 25 March was the first occasion on which Sport Ireland was formally notified of the review of the organisation's senior management structure and the creation of the new role of executive vice president. Sport Ireland was not consulted on the commissioning or preparation of the report. Sport Ireland has not received a copy of the report.

The code of practice for good governance of community, voluntary and charitable organisations in Ireland is a resource to assist community, voluntary and charitable organisations to develop their overall capacity in terms of how they run their organisations. It is a voluntary code provided free to all boards, committees and executives of not-for-profit groups to encourage them to check themselves against best practice in the management of their affairs. The Government's national sports policy, published in July 2018, tasks Sport Ireland with overseeing a process whereby all national governing bodies, NGBs, and local sports partnerships adopt the code by the end of 2021. As part of this process Sport Ireland will also identify and put in place the training and supports needed by the different organisations to assist with the adoption process. Notwithstanding the fact that NGBs, such as the FAI, are independent, autonomous organisations and are responsible for their own governance procedures, Sport Ireland provides a number of governance supports to all sporting organisations to assist in their adoption of the code.

In 2018, representatives of the FAI attended a number of governance seminars and governance code workshops provided by Sport Ireland. The FAI was one of the 50 sporting bodies to utilise the governance e-learning service which assists organisations on the journey to compliance with the governance code. According to the governance code website, the FAI is on the governance code adoption journey. Sport Ireland understands that the FAI has established a governance committee, the remit of which is to ensure the FAI is compliant with the code.

With regard to the term limits of boards, while Sport Ireland does not set term limits, it does support the adoption of the governance code among all funded bodies. While the governance code does not stipulate mandatory terms for board directors, the director term of office guidance notestates that the most common practice is that directors are appointed for a three-year term and that it is considered good practice to put a limit of two or three terms on a director's service to ensure a cycle of board renewal.

Sport Ireland's primary aim and responsibility is the security of and return on investment for the circa €2.9 million in Exchequer funding invested by Sport Ireland in the FAI on annually. Sport Ireland is satisfied that there are effective control mechanisms and frameworks in place with regard to its investment in the FAI and that its grant funding is used for the purposes for which it was intended. This is verified annually by signed auditor statements and approximately every three years by Sport Ireland independent auditors. The control mechanisms and frameworks deployed by Sport Ireland with regard to its funding to the FAI can provide strong assurance to the committee. I have described Sport Ireland's functions as per its establishing legislation, the Sport Ireland Act 2015, and its philosophy towards working with funded bodies to develop sport. Sport Ireland is mindful of the limits of its legal powers. Sport Ireland is not a regulatory body and, notwithstanding its focus on good governance and financial management in funded bodies, we respect the autonomy of the NGBs and the collective responsibility of their boards. We aim to develop strong sporting organisations and identify and put in place the training and supports needed by the different organisations to assist with the adoption of better governance practices. As per the Minister's request, Sport Ireland will continue to correspond with the president of the FAI to seek clarification as outlined earlier.

I thank the committee for its time and I welcome any questions.