Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 18 December 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion

Mr. Kenneth Spratt:

It is. It only really works if it is owned by national governing bodies for sport. The stadium has a significant annual cost. It raises revenue from concerts and conferences and so on, but the gap must be filled by the two national governing bodies. This is filled through a licence for each of the national governing bodies to hold a number of fixtures each year. Based on the revenue raised from those fixtures, they are able to fill that gap. It is a not-for-profit company but it does wash its face as there is a little bit of a surplus that goes into a sinking fund. It really only works by being owned by the two national governing bodies and by being used for sport.