Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Looking at the issues identified by the review, those aspects it points to include culture, the leaking of confidential information at the board, public distancing from board decisions, internal conflict, lack of clarity regarding roles and responsibilities, lack of active participation in the working of board subcommittees and significant issues regarding governance structures. There is also the absence of women on the board, which is a problem, and we must deal with it. The review also highlighted issues such as the independence of the board, the disconnect between the board and the grassroots, issues around oversight and control, the lack of diversity more generally and a range of other issues. If the IABA fully embraces all the recommendations, it will go from being an organisation that is clearly dysfunctional when it comes to governance to one that can demonstrate best practice in future.

What we should not have, and what we cannot have, is people in the IABA, at whatever level, undermining clear recommendations. People with obligations in that sport need to front up and to fully implement the recommendations. What I will not stand for is anyone in the IABA undermining clear recommendations. I want full follow-through on them. I am not going to entertain a campaign that seeks to undermine recommendations. The recommendations here could apply to many other sports and some of those sports have implemented similar recommendations already. What is it that the IABA does not like about having women, independence and diversity on its board? What does the organisation not like about changing the culture and behaviour of its board or about building a better connection between its board and the grassroots? Therefore, if people within boxing think we are going to allow a kind of a campaign to undermine the current recommendations, we will not entertain any such campaign. In the context of IABA, we will protect athletes and the grassroots, but we will have reform. I am clear that the recommendations, when broken down and analysed, identify clear problems that we need to resolve. This is my bottom line on this issue.