Mr. Sean Slattery:

I thank Senator Warfield for his comments. Regarding the under-reporting of assaults to the Garda, this is where the State could throw its weight behind the process. I have personal experience of it. It could be seven or eight months from the initial report before hearing from the Garda again. We hear the case is with the solicitors, for example. A tiny percentage of assaults in soccer are reported to the Garda. I will not mention any names, but there was a high profile case a few years ago. That takes media attention from the other assaults. Everyone thought a big lesson would be learned, but in the following year there were 21 assaults. It would be a fantastic help if the judicial process could be speeded up so that it might not take a year and a half before an assault case goes to court. Supports could be put in place.

I highlighted to members of the committee that the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act was used in one case with which I was involved. The threat of an assault is enough to get a conviction, apart from any FAI rules or suspensions. A clear message could be sent out that there are consequences, other than just being banned for a month from a football game. That would be a great benefit to the members, and it might lead to an uptake. We always encourage members to report assaults to the Garda.

We also had an incident two weeks ago where a referee was told he would be killed by somebody when he was getting into his car. That has been reported to the Garda. There is stuff that goes on and suspensions are handed out by the FAI. The FAI has regulations in place. It is not necessary to reinvent the wheel. What happened is that some of the disciplinary bodies in the leagues around the country are not using the sanctions that are available to them, which could send a strong message. The FAI and the society have worked very hard to get the regulations in place. There have been small fines and the same people are being reported. There are options for multiple sanctions. We do not need a brand new list of rules to come in but, from a legal point of view, it would be great if members knew that it would not take forever to get something addressed.