Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The point is made. I am next on the list, so I have eaten into my own time. We will then have the other Deputies. After that we will have a second round, during which members will have three minutes each.

The benefit of sitting here is that you get the flavour of all the answers and questions. Deputy Byrne asked about the difference between a concern and a complaint. Mr. Courell previously said that the issues relating to RTÉ and Sunday Independent investigation and the complaints surrounding them had crystalised. That is the work he used, "crystalised". I presume that is all in tandem with whatever was said about January and February of 2024. That is in the complaint territory. To be honest, the issue is the concern territory. We can all comprehend the complaint territory. We can, in fairness to the chair and the president of the FAI, Mr. Courell and the process, we can all understand the formalities that kicked in. The issue which has been exposed by very good journalism, despite people thinking internally that these were unfortunate leaks - not all leaks are unfortunate - relates to the concern component, which comes before the complaint, and to the checks and balances and the awareness levels that existed. None of the witnesses is willing to talk about this. We have obviously established that as part of this process.

The real issue for this committee is how to ensure that, working through Sport Ireland, the body through which the FAI comes before us, there is a mechanism in place to ensure that the process by which concerns are dealt with is effective. If concerns then become complaints, matters move to the other side. The committee cannot establish that. We need the help of the witnesses to do so.

There is the legal case and the Garda investigation, on the one hand, but everything that everyone who is sitting at the back of the committee room - members of the media and a number of journalists in particular - have exposed leads to greater concern. My daughter Aoibhe Kelly plays for Arra Rovers. She is a left winger. She loves it. The people who work with her are fantastic. They are incredible. However, I would have a deep concern if the category of concerns was not going to be appropriately dealt with before they became complaints. I do not think I can articulate, on behalf of the committee, anything more accurate than what I just said. That is a summation of everything today. I do not even want the witnesses to respond.