Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I said earlier, in response to Deputy O'Brien, that we must be protective of public moneys. There is a high risk that if we were to give money directly to the FAI, given that KOSI has stated that the moneys were pretty much well accounted for and given the precarious financial situation that the association is in at the moment, we could not guarantee that it would not disappear into a black hole. That is one of the big challenges. I mean when one has so many overdrawn accounts and different issues going on we want to ensure that the money gets to the front line and to the people who need it. By going through the FAI, obviously there is a cost. I understand that it is a very low cost to take the alternative route but at least we are guaranteeing that the money reaches where intended. We would have no guarantee channelling the money through the FAI. That would be completely out of the question and the KOSI clearly states that the FAI is not fit to receive public moneys.