Dr. Tom Daly:

Good afternoon. I was appointed vice president of the board of directors of Cycling Ireland last March as part of the formation of a new board. My co-vice president is Mr. Conor Campbell and in the absence of an elected president, I am representing the board here this afternoon. I am joined by my fellow board member, Ms Helen Kerrane, who was also appointed earlier this year. I thank the committee for this invitation and we look forward to providing an update on the organisation’s affairs, and to answering the members' questions, as part of our commitment to transparency and accountability. I also thank the committee for its patience with our previous postponement of this session. As we explained then, we were awaiting completion of a significant overdue report, which we felt would greatly help the committee members to be more fully informed. Unfortunately, we have still not received this report and BDO, the firm commissioned to produce it, has confirmed that due to matters outside its and Cycling Ireland's control, it is not yet able to publish its report on the proposed commercial arrangements between Cycling Ireland and EvoPro Racing. BDO has also confirmed that Cycling Ireland has been especially keen to have this report published well before this, and especially in time for today's committee hearing. Due to ongoing interventions of legal representatives of the former president of Cycling Ireland and EvoPro Racing, respectively, BDO is unable to proceed with the publication of the findings at this time.

I want to provide a brief introduction to our organisation and its context. As has been said, Cycling Ireland is the national governing body for cycling across the island with more than 25,000 members. The membership has increased significantly over recent years. Cycling has been listed as one of three priority sports in the national sports policy, with Government committing significant funds to the area. Taken together, these developments represent both a once-in-a-generation opportunity as well as a significant challenge for Cycling Ireland. Our operations are very diverse. On the one hand we are working hard to give our high-performance athletes the best possible opportunities and on the other, we are delivering entry-level programmes to tens of thousands of children annually. In between, we expect to deliver more than 1,100 events this year encompassing a very diverse range of cycling disciplines and interests for all ages. In summary, we are working very hard to create an environment in which Irish cyclists of all ages and interests are provided with the opportunity to fulfil their personal aspirations and potential.

I will now address some of the legacy governance issues and related reforms this board is dealing with. One issue goes back to 2020 and relates to a capital grant application that resulted in Cycling Ireland being deemed ineligible to receive capital funding for a 12-month period. This was restored in October 2021. In parallel, Cycling Ireland was the subject of a governance audit, the KOSI audit report, commissioned by Sport Ireland. This was released in October 2021, revealing significant governance inadequacies and detailing 17 change recommendations. We have already implemented, or are in the process of implementing, 14 of these and expect all will be addressed by this September. Another such governance lapse began to emerge in December 2021 regarding the proposed support for a development academy for young Irish riders through an already established professional cycling team, EvoPro Racing.

Based on the potentially high and ill-defined costs, along with other issues contained in a heads of agreement presented to the board, the board subsequently attempted to agree an arrangement that would provide both parties with clarity on requirements and costs. This arrangement was produced to EvoPro Racing but was not agreed to. This issue created an irreconcilable disagreement at board level during the early part of this year and, as part of a resolution achieved with the help of Sport Ireland and the presidents of Cycling Ireland’s provincial bodies, the then president and several directors voluntarily stood aside to enable a new board to be formed. Given the profound effects of the EvoPro issue on the organisation, the board commissioned BDO Ireland consultants in February 2022 to investigate the details of the proposed arrangement. This measure was felt necessary to protect our reputational integrity and to uncover any operational, administrative and cultural weaknesses that would need to be addressed as part of our organisational renewal. Cycling Ireland has been most anxious to have this report finalised and believe it would have justified the board's concerns, proposed arrangements and subsequent decisions on the matter. However, as I have explained, its finalisation has been delayed by ongoing legal representations from the other parties involved. During the course of its inquiries for this report, BDO uncovered and reported to Cycling Ireland a failing over a number of years in the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI, registration process for Irish-based professional teams. The UCI is the world governing body for cycling. The current board is in the process of remediating this issue with the relevant stakeholders.

I will briefly refer to the leadership of the organisation, which is primarily our board. The current board is composed of exceptionally qualified directors with proven domestic and international experience and with a broad range of relevant competencies. The board has established strong subcommittees in the areas of people and culture, governance and compliance and audit, risk and finance. We have also achieved a 50:50 gender balanced of directors. At our first full meeting in March 2022, we committed to a root-and-branch review of the operational structures of our organisation, beginning with an extensive consultation process with members. This is well under way and will be ongoing until the autumn.

We fully acknowledge and regret that serious mistakes were made in the past, which were unbefitting of an organisation that receives public funds and fees from members. However, it is important to stress that there was no personal gain for those involved. All acted primarily in good faith and were motivated by a passion for the sport. By voluntarily stepping aside, they have contributed to the organisation’s renewal of itself. I assure the committee that the new board of Cycling Ireland is resolute in its commitment to effectively serve our members, to foster a culture of integrity, to provide value for public funds and to adhere to robust principles of good governance. I thank the committee for its time and we look forward to answering members' questions.