Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

If I may answer, I will not comment on any of the specifics of any issue currently being investigated by Sport Ireland or anyone else. That is out of the question. Sport Ireland has robust arrangements in place attached to the funding it provides to sporting bodies, including the Football Association of Ireland. As part of Sport Ireland's normal processes and procedures relating to the annual grant cycle, national governing bodies in receipt of grant funding are required to submit a copy of their financial statements. This must include a statement from their auditor that each grant was expended in accordance with the approved submission of the grant funding. An absolutely compelling case has been made over the years that funding should be held from any national governing bodies that are not abiding by the governance rules established for their particular category. That is a principle that we must keep to and we will do so. We are giving some of them, perhaps a large number of them, a little time to get their corporate governance into order. If they have not done so by 2021, funding should be withheld.

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