Mr. Donal Conway:

The additional statement is as follows. On 25 April 2017, an internal finance meeting was held by members of the finance team and the then chief executive officer. At the meeting, the cash flow position of the association identified a possible cash flow issue at that time. Acknowledging that the association's revenues operate in a cyclical fashion, this was an unusual situation and was not repeated in 2018. The association's position on 25 April 2017 was that if all cheques issued in the week ending 28 April 2017 were cashed or presented to the bank at the same time, there was a likelihood of insufficient funds being available to cover all of them. This was, however, a short-term issue as there was a legitimate expectation that funds would come to the association in the short term arising from various income streams including ticket sales, sponsorship, grant funding and other sources. The CEO provided the association with a personal cheque for €100,000 and thereby made funds available to provide some immediate financial relief and for the said funds to be used in a context where such additional funding was required by the association. On Wednesday, 26 April 2017, a request was received by email from one particular creditor who was entitled to draw down funds from the association for just such a draw down. The financial director contacted the chief executive officer via email, proposing to lodge the cheque for €100,000 to the association's bank account to honour the draw-down request from the particular creditor. The request was acknowledged by the chief executive officer and payment was made to the particular creditor. The board acknowledged that the circumstances of the above €100,000 transaction were exceptional and the repayment was subsequently made by the association on 16 June 2017 to the then chief executive officer. No contract or agreement was entered into between the association and its then chief executive officer and no interest or charges have been levied or paid by the association in respect of the transaction.

Having been informed of the €100,000 payment, the board acknowledged that disclosure would be made in the necessary financial statements in accordance with the required accounting treatment and the provisions of the Companies Act. The association has since embarked on a review of its internal control processes and procedures to ensure a situation of this nature cannot arise again. Mr. Delaney will also address this issue in his opening statement.