Mr. Paul McDermott:

On the core funding for the year, the allocation for Cycling Ireland was €420,000, 50% of which is €210,000. On the high performance side, the grant allocation agreed by the board of Sport Ireland in December was €520,000 for the year, with 50%, based on quick sums, being €260,000. The reason we pay in arrears is to make sure Cycling Ireland can fund itself. The board asked for the money against certain headings, including salary, operational costs and events. We are able to set the grant against particular requests. That is the assurance we have when we pay in arrears.

Obviously, our preference and the normal, standard way of paying the grant is to give 75%, usually in January, when the relevant governing body applies for the grant to be drawn down. It is onerous on a governing body if it is paid in arrears because it is not able to plan. In a way, it is a form of sanction if funding is not given until the organisation meets certain requirements. In this case, there is the question of all the KOSI recommendations being in place, the implementation of the IPAgovernance review and all of that. Following its AGM in September, we hope to be able to return Cycling Ireland to a standard financial arrangement.