As part of today’s agenda, we also have been asked to discuss other topics, including oversight and governance of funding for the SFAI, an FAI-commissioned report which outlines how the betting levy can be amended to deliver much-needed funding for all sports across Ireland, and the FAI's lease of a 30-acre site at Brooklodge in Glanmire, County Cork. We have provided information on all of these topics in our submission to the committee and look forward to discussing those today.

We also welcome the opportunity to provide clarification on recent governance-related matters. Agreed in January 2020, the memorandum of understanding, MOU, between the FAI and the Government was put in place for the period from 2020 to 2023, inclusive. As part of 163 recommendations, 159 of which have been implemented, MOU condition No. 35 covered the CEO's remuneration and required it to be in line with Government pay guidelines for a Secretary General. To ensure all the recommendations contained within the MOU were being adopted by the FAI, audits have been carried out by KOSI on behalf of Sport Ireland across all of the recommendations. The outcome of one such audit concluded that the FAI had not embedded MOU recommendation No. 35 in 2022 and that, in short, the CEO's total remuneration across 2022 and 2023 exceeded that of a Secretary General. This arose in connection with the miscalculation by the association of the BIK on certain expenses along with a payment made to the CEO in lieu of untaken annual leave.

Arising from the Oireachtas joint committee session on 13 December 2023, certain additional information was sought in respect of this issue. The issue of holiday pay arose in the context of another staff member applying via email for payment in lieu. This had been agreed by the then finance director and the COO. In response to this email, I agreed to the request and I made a suggestion in relation to my own unused holidays. The then finance director, who was copied on that email, evidently regarded this as a request and he then passed this on to the former chair. Discussion ensued between the former chair, the director of people and culture, the former finance director and the chair of the EPRCO. I was not party to these discussions. The former chair made a decision in February 2023 to approve the request and he addressed how this came about at the Oireachtas joint committee meeting in December last. The board acknowledges that the decision taken by the former chair to approve the request was taken in good faith and that the consequent breach of MOU recommendation No. 35 was unintentional. The board has also taken steps to ensure that the association’s processes are more robust moving forward.

It is important to point out that Sport Ireland and the Department have both expressed satisfaction that the matter is resolved and, indeed, had expressed this view and had considered the situation resolved in early November of last year. More broadly, both have remarked publicly and on the record on the strong progress made by the FAI in implementing 98% of the 163 reforms. The association regrets that these events take the focus away from the superb work being done across all levels of Irish football, from grassroots to the League of Ireland and through to our international teams. We also apologise for the difficulty it has caused for the extremely dedicated and committed FAI staff as well as for Sport Ireland and the Department. We are excited at what is to come in the rest of 2024 and beyond and are continuing to build on the progress made in reforming the organisation over the past number of years. Once again, we thank the committee for the opportunity to address it today and my colleagues and I are happy to answer members' questions.