Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I welcome the appointment of Mr. Mulvey to the important post of chairman of the Irish Sports Council. The role will undoubtedly be challenging but his experience will be of great importance to the council and in terms of the spin-off for other sporting bodies throughout the State.

I tabled this question reluctantly. Like the Minister, I do not wish to see more public money spent - I will not say "wasted" - on the particular case to which she referred in her response. However, it is somewhat unfair that the Irish Sports Council's interpretation and view of the events in question are available on the Department's website but not the view of Ms Mary Coughlan. That is biased and unfair. A comparison of the report from the Irish Sports Council with Mary Coughlan's report, which was published elsewhere, shows a series of contradictions between the two. For example, there is disagreement in regard to the use of a mediation process. Such a process either took place or it did not. The Irish Sports Council says the former chief executive officer demanded compensation, but the latter says this is completely false and without foundation. There are various other serious contradictions between what is on the Department's website and what has been made freely available to the public by Ms Coughlan.

In the interests of justice and fair play there should be an independent review of this matter. I say this reluctantly because I am aware it will cost more money. However, in fairness both to the chief executive officer and to the Irish Sports Council, the two sides should be looked at separately, independently and without bias.

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