Results 5,821-5,840 of 15,510 for speaker:Brendan Griffin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: We have been over this already today.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: I am not an expert on financial matters but from reading of the figures it would not be likely.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: They are. In our recent engagement on the FAI, I pointed out that as a large organisation FIFA has the means to help and it is in its interests to help. The FAI is a member football association. FIFA has a role to play here.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: The doomsday scenario is that if the domestic league is wound up international teams do not participate.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: I am not certain about that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: We are trying to avoid the doomsday scenario. These are the issue we want to discuss with UEFA.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: It is pretty clear that if the FAI does not exist, there can be no domestic league.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: I would imagine that if there is no FAI, there would be no international team. The Deputy's question is whether the FAI can exist with only an international team and so on. I will have to check that out.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: We are all aware that all of the potential scenarios are not good. From the Government point of view, we are working to avoid any scenario that would be negative to Irish soccer. We are working to get the funding to the front line through the youth sports programme and we have restored funding to the international women's team. We are anxious to meet with UEFA.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: To be clear, the Deputy wants to know if the FAI-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: My understanding would be that if there is no domestic league, there would be no need for the FAI and, therefore, there would be no international team.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: Obviously, without an international team we could not participate.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: If the FAI folds, our international team will not be in a position to participate and so the game in Slovakia in March will not take place. Again, that is a hypothetical situation. We are trying to avoid that scenario.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: I can give the Deputy a breakdown of the 78 recommendations. Earlier, I referred to the fact that there is a KOSI implementation group between Sport Ireland and the FAI. On the governance review group and the oversight group, there were 78 recommendations, 16 of which were considered priorities. Of these 16, 11 have been implemented and five are in progress. In total, 30 of the 78...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: Which ones, specifically?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: I do not want to reveal anything confidential. I gave a figure of €62 million earlier in the context where the debt stands. It is not good, but there are income opportunities as well that the directors are hopeful will result in an improved scenario. The reason we are meeting UEFA is to see if we can get this matter resolved, but the FAI will need serious assistance if it is to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: We have found a way of getting the money to the women's team. Under the youth field sports programme, we announced today that we are getting that money out to the front line. We are working with our partners and the relevant stakeholders. Again, we are talking to UEFA and will meet its representatives. The key thing to resolve this is to get the proper personnel in place in the FAI....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: That is one of the challenges. I do not wish to reveal too much of what was presented to us as a confidential document on Monday, but it is not in a good place at all financially and significant assistance will be required to perform all of the ordinary tasks of a football association. I will not get into the business of where it would cut back or where it would or would not pay. That is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: First, I acknowledge how important Sligo Rovers FC is to soccer in the north west. The team has a proud and strong tradition. We spoke earlier about Limerick FC and there is also Cork City FC in the case of Deputy Jonathan O'Brien. Clubs are very important to their fans and to the people who live locally. The structure of the League of Ireland and the prize money are matters for the FAI,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Governance and Funding of Football Association of Ireland: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Brendan Griffin: I have made inquiries in the Department about how we can do this. The FAI is trying to get a handle on what has been promised, what facilities have gone ahead based on promises and so forth. That work is under way. I am keen to find out about that. I have made contact with a number of clubs in my constituency to ask about the situation in that regard. There appear to be different models...