Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am a long-standing supporter of Irish soccer and of the teams that have represented our country on the world stage. The current situation is extraordinary. There has been friction for a long time in the Football Association of Ireland and many have been critical of the association's leadership. The League of Ireland has had particular challenges and there have been calls for more investment from the association and more support for clubs and players. At the same time, great progress has been made in respect of grassroots soccer. The inclusive nature of Irish soccer is remarkable, with teams and competitions for all regardless of gender, level of ability, ethnicity, socioeconomic background or age. I have been greatly impressed by the ambition of the FAI to hold international competitions, including next year's UEFA Euro 2020 games at the Aviva Stadium.

As the Minister said, the questions being asked by members of this committee and Sport Ireland are being asked by soccer supporters throughout the country. We understand that individuals are entitled to be treated fairly and to due process. Nobody wishes to see a trial by media of people who have worked hard for their sport over many years. However, I am incredibly disappointed by the lack of answers from the FAI. As the members will be aware, those of us elected to Dáil and Seanad Éireann have a responsibility to the people of Ireland to ensure that public funds are used wisely and carefully to deliver real outcomes across all programmes. When discussing an organisation such as the FAI, whose public funding represents a modest proportion of its total income, there are limits to what we can do. I share the frustration of members of the committee. Nobody who witnessed last Wednesday's meeting with the representatives of the FAI could feel differently.

There is an obligation on the Government to use any levers of influence it has to ensure that the FAI provides Sport Ireland, its members and all supporters of Irish soccer with a full explanation of the circumstances of the 2017 loan and with assurances that failures in oversight and governance have been addressed. The Department's sports capital programme is one such lever. The vast majority of capital grants go directly to sports clubs and organisations throughout the country. There is no suggestion that we would penalise local soccer clubs for issues in their national association. However, national governing bodies of sport may also apply and the FAI has been directly allocated a total of €130,000 under the programme since 2016. All payments under the sports capital programme are made retrospectively following receipt of, inter alia, proof of payment of the relevant invoices and a signed certificate of compliance with the terms and conditions of the programme.

The national sports policy, which we published last July, provided for a large scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF, with at least €100 million available over the coming years. The fund was launched in November 2018 and closes for applications tomorrow. It is confined to national governing bodies of sport and local authorities, all of which received letters inviting them to make applications. The new fund has generated great interest and I expect it will take a number of months to have all applications assessed by our officials and recommendations made on allocations. As the Minister indicated, no new capital payments will be made by our Department to the FAI until we are satisfied that it has given us a full and complete account of the 2017 loan, we have seen the outcome of the governance review, meaningful change has been implemented on the basis of the findings of that review and until all other relevant conditions have been complied with. The sports capital programmes are a very important resource for the Irish sporting sector and I am sure this will also be true of the new large scale sport infrastructure fund. In the interests of fairness to all applicants we must insist that the FAI addresses these serious concerns before any payments to that organisation can be considered.

Finally, I remind the FAI and its board that there are further risks for the association if it fails to address satisfactorily the questions and concerns which have been outlined. If we conclude after a due process that there are lingering doubts about governance and that appropriate recommendations for improvement are not being implemented, the risks for the FAI would be considerable. As matters stand, the FAI board has problems and it has time to address them. I hope it uses that time wisely.