Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

Athletics Ireland is the best funded of the governing bodies outside the three big sports. The amount wasted in this case is twice the budget for our elite athletes. They feel they have suffered as a result of this money being spent in this way. Will the Minister consider it a requirement of governing bodies in receipt of public funding to have independent directors? One of the reasons this problem escalated was that there was little independence. Everyone was involved in a personal way and the members of the Irish Sports Council board along with CEO were formerly involved in the particular sport. A little independence in the governing bodies, which is a requirement in other countries for those receiving Government funding, should be one of the issues the Minister considers following the receipt of the report, which I hope she will publish.

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