Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this very serious and important issue. It is important to detail the timeline of events and steps taken by the Football Association of Ireland regarding these allegations. As the Deputy said, and as is my understanding, an internal email was sent by a former FAI CEO in May 2023 regarding rumours relating to a former coach and alleged historical inappropriate behaviour.

This is the subject matter of a current Garda investigation and it would be inappropriate for me to comment in any greater detail than that other than to say that once the FAI received the formal complaint in January 2024, it acted swiftly and contacted An Garda Síochána and Tusla in accordance with mandatory reporting requirements and its own safeguarding and child welfare regulations. Following the revelations, the FAI introduced an anonymous reporting mechanism to allow players and others to flag concerns and report inappropriate behaviour and to raise a concern to-----

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