Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I concur with the remarks of Senator O'Mahony about the Irish Athletic Boxing Association. For many years and in previous Olympics the performance and achievements of our boxing team were the envy of many other sports. Boxers were the standard bearers of Irish sport. It is 100% proof of bad corporate governance to hear yesterday on the radio and read today in the newspapers where they are at currently. They did not become bad boxers overnight or over the past four years. The state of the sport and its organisation at the moment is totally due to poor corporate governance and bad leadership. When the Minister facilitated a meeting yesterday to try to find a resolution, it was most disrespectful to him that one member of the board did not have the decency to turn up to the meeting. Amateur boxing is a big beneficiary of the sports grants that are available in this country and, at the end of the day, that is taxpayers' money. The Minister should pull rank and step in to take control of the association. That is his prerogative and duty, and especially given the way he was treated yesterday, I would have no problem with such an approach by the Minister, with him knocking heads together and removing some people if he has to. The situation is most unfortunate because we all took great pleasure from the sport. It was easy after we had victories to praise those involved to the high heavens, in council chambers or in this House, but they have let us down, and it is not the boxers who are at fault. The message that should go out from here is that the problem has nothing to do with the boxers but relates to corporate governance. The issue is mismanagement by the people at the top. The matter must be addressed immediately.