Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 68: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if she has received a report from the Irish Sports Council regarding the court settlement involving Athletics Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13963/10]

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 69: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the action she plans to take arising from a recent case (details supplied) so that the risk of such cases is minimised for the future; if she will advise if any of the costs arising from the case were borne by her Department either directly or indirectly; her views on whether the costs of the case may have impacted on the availability of State funding for sporting organisations; if she will insist that all sports bodies which do not have in place a disputes mechanism and who receive State funding will be required to sign up to the Just Sports Ireland dispute resolution process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14069/10]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 68 and 69 together.

The Irish Sports Council , ISC, funded by my Department, is the statutory body responsible for the promotion, development and co-ordination of sport which includes responsibility for dealing with the recognised sporting organisations and allocation of funding to same. The ISC was established on a statutory basis on 1 July 1999 and its functions outlined in section 6 of the Irish Sports Council Act 1999.

The council recognises more than 60 national governing bodies of sport, through which funding is allocated on an annual basis following a detailed analysis of their application forms. They are dealt with as autonomous organisations. There is no current requirement for these bodies to sign up to the just sport Ireland process, established by the Federation of Irish Sports in 2007 as a specialised independent arbitration and mediation facility.

From a legal perspective, I have no role in the day-to-day operations of the ISC. Under section 9 of the Irish Sports Council Act 1999, it must have regard to Government policy and comply with any general policy directive which may be given by the Minister but it is not under my control. The council is established as a corporate entity with legal personality and is responsible for its activities. I would be extremely concerned if moneys that otherwise would be invested in meeting the aims of the Government's policy on sport had to be used to meet the cost of legal settlements. My predecessor requested a full report on the case referred to by the Deputies from the Irish Sports Council on 15 March. I do not wish to make any further comment on this specific case until I have received and considered the Irish Sports Council's report, which I expect to receive in the coming weeks.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I am surprised the Minister has not received the report. This is a difficult situation and has been the subject of court action, which causes great concern. A great portion of €1 million, which should have gone to sports, has gone into lawyers' pockets. It seems utterly needless that the dispute got to this point and if Just Sport Ireland had been used at a much earlier stage, it would have solved the problem.

What is the value of a report commissioned from one of the bodies involved in the litigation? To what extent can that be objective, with the best will in the world? Given that the role of the Irish Sports Council in this has been the subject of litigation, will the Minister seek an independent report? What is the point in the Minister hearing the Irish Sports Council side of the issue? I do not want to rehash the issue but lessons must be learned about the way the Irish Sports Council interfaces with the governing bodies in sport.

I accept there must be tension between the rights, autonomy and independence of the governing bodies and the need for oversight of how public money is spent by the Irish Sports Council. It seems serious mistakes were made in terms of the relationship between the two and while any interference is not acceptable, it seems there was an unacceptable level of interference on this occasion. I ask the Minister to seek an independent report so that lessons can be learned. It is not a question of rehashing the case or apportioning blame but seeing what changes we can make to ensure this does not happen again.

If the Minister does not know already, she will learn very quickly in this brief that we are only playing at politics compared to sporting bodies. We have a lot to learn in terms of egos, ego trips, empire building and prima donna behaviour. We are in the ha'penny place compared to the world of sport. It is important we find out how we can improve the relationship between the governing bodies of sport and the funding organisations distributing money on behalf of the taxpayer.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I accept it is taxpayers' money. Deputy Mitchell tossed out a figure of €1 million but nowhere was that figure mentioned - certainly not of that scale. Irrespective of the sum, it is taxpayers' money and one must be accountable for it. The report was sought on 15 March so I am not surprised it has not yet been presented to me. When it is, I will carefully consider it and I will then examine the need for anything further arising from it. There is a need to learn from this about the relationship between the Irish Sports Council and the governing bodies, about the interaction between them and whether other processes should be used. I am always in favour of using mediation processes where they are available, irrespective of the difficulties. Perhaps we can investigate whether national governing bodies should be using that method, given that it has been available since 2007. These are the issues I will examine when I receive the report.

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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I refer to the issue of quangos. A hands-off approach is taken; it is out there and we have no responsibility. Of course there is responsibility but Deputies elected to this House cannot access the information directly from the Irish Sports Council. We must go through convoluted routes to try to get to the root of it, and for the most part we fail. The report from one agency involved in this, the Irish Sports Council - the body that receives money directly - will go to the Minister. Will we have access to the report and will it be published? As Deputy Mitchell stated, that is one side of the argument, which may have as many as three sides. We had protracted discussions on this on Committee Stage and, from what we heard, it was an unsavoury scenario to say the least. It is important that we did not get into the nitty-gritty because there were serious legal issues involved. Whatever the amount, it is referred to in newspapers as being between €500,000 and €700,000, a vast amount of money. At the same time, the Irish women's basketball team is not able to access a small amount of money in order to promote the team and do its work. It seems an incredible disaster for sport that this amount of money is wasted in this way.

I did not catch what the Minister said in regard to Just Sport Ireland. Perhaps she said she had no role in this. It is important there is a role for some agency in a matter where money ends up in the pockets of the lawyers. Why can we not find another route and why can certain conditions not be applied to funding for an organisation in receipt of €52 million last year? Sporting organisations will say it is not a large amount of money when spread over a large number of organisations, but it is a significant amount of taxpayers' money. We have allowed something in the order of €700,000 to be spent on a legal case that should have been managed internally through an organisation like Just Sport Ireland.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Just Sport Ireland is new to me but I am quite impressed by what it aims to do and the low level of awards granted as a result of mediation it is involved in. I understand that body has been working with national governing bodies to ensure a provision for arbitration is included in rules and regulations as a matter of course. Some 18 organisations have included the provision and it is a matter I am happy to promote so that they are get involved in it. Mediation avoids the trauma of court, never mind the amount of money it costs and the awards that can be made.

Given that confidentiality attaches to the case, I am not sure how much information can be made public. I accept fundamentally that money destined for sports organisations and approved by the Government to support those clubs, sports and the promotion and development of sport should not be going into the settlement of court cases. Anything that can be done to ensure proper and fair procedures to avoid that is something I would consider a matter of priority.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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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.

Séamus Kirk (Louth, Ceann Comhairle)
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We need to move on to the next question.

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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The Minister did not respond to Deputy Mitchell's query in regard to whether she would consider commissioning an independent report. There are three groups involved in this matter. Whatever the outcome, clearly a major problem exists somewhere. What sanctions, if any, will be applied? Somebody is clearly wrong. There has been a total mess up, given that €700,000 of potential sports money has been wasted on a court case. I would like to believe somebody somewhere will be held accountable for this. We simply cannot allow this type of major public row or that people can walk away, go back to their desks and continue whatever they were doing previously.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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It is important to say that I understand the court case was strictly without admission of liability. As such it will not be possible as a result of any report in regard to the handling of the case to ascertain whether any person should be sanctioned or penalised in any way. The outcome of the case stands. What is important is that we learn how we can avoid this happening in the future. I will be investigating the Just Sports Ireland, JSI, initiative to see whether conditions in this regard can be improved. I do not yet know the answer to that question as I am only learning about the process. It appears it might have been possible to deal with this particular case that way rather than in the High Court, which would have resulted in savings of an awful lot of money. I will examine the matter. However, I cannot commit to anything until I have received the report which, in fairness, was only commissioned on 15 March.

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Is there any possibility of an independent report? There are three groups involved, one of which is providing the Minister with a report. The Minister's Department has direct responsibility for that agency. What we need is an independent report reflective of the views of all three sides involved.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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What we want is a report that will provide guidance in terms of ensuring this does not happen again. We do not need a report which will not tell us anything about the case because the settlement in that regard is confidential.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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That is precisely the reason the report needs to be independent.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The exercise is more of a learning experience for Government, the Sports Council and national governing bodies. I will know more in terms of the lessons to be learned when I have received the report. I will examine the Just Sports Ireland dispute resolution and mediation mechanisms and the various other issues raised here by Members. I am open to suggestions in regard to how we can ensure this does not happen again. However, it is premature at this stage for me to give commitments in this regard.