Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The Irish Sports Council would argue that the direct funding to organisations has not been affected, although it meant there was no money in the contingency fund for events that might arise during the year. Ultimately, money was lost to sporting organisations, which should not have happened. For that reason I said that where disputes arise, as they inevitably will, the mediation process should be used. I suggested it could be used as a condition but it was argued that some organisations might not be ready for that. A number of organisations have already signed up for Just Sport and using mediation; 17 organisations are taking part and five more are about to do so. It is all the better if the process continues with the organisations.

There are a number of other issues. It was a mistake for me to indicate last month that the settlement was confidential; I presumed this was the case but it was not a confidential settlement. There was no admission of liability and the settlement was made in court. The cost included the settlement and legal costs, with the total amounting to over €300,000. That money could have gone to sport.

Several issues must be addressed. The first is the involvement of mediation and arbitration in the settlement of disputes. The second concerns corporate governance training for the organisations. There is also the issue of clarifying the relationship between the Irish Sports Council and the organisations; the council exists to support and develop sport and should help organisations in doing so. It is necessary to have a policy on the recruiting of strategically important senior posts within organisations. All those issues arise immediately from this case and I expect the Irish Sports Council to deal with them.

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