Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The victims that will suffer from this are young people in disadvantaged areas, including both boys and girls. My fear is that those services will be lost. I want to have a constructive dialogue about this. I believe there is a way to fund the development officers and their important work, even if we need a short-term measure to make sure services are maintained within those disadvantaged areas. Development officers are not on huge money. Their average salary is between €35,000 and €43,000 a year. It is not a huge gap to get over for a couple of months. It has to be sorted out. Disadvantaged communities cannot be the ones that pay the price.

I welcome the action the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, has already taken and the funding he has put into the women's international team. That money has been ring-fenced so it does not go into the black hole of FAI debt. The Minister has acted responsibly. I am disappointed that the FAI will not be attending tomorrow's committee meeting organised by Deputy O'Dowd. I compliment the Chair of the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport for organising it. At the very least it would have given the opportunity for senior members of the FAI to come in and apologise. One word that has not been used as of yet is "apology". I am talking about an apology to the many parents, volunteers and players in the League of Ireland and in our local parks day in and day out. They have been betrayed. I do not use that word lightly. Let An Garda carry out its investigations, but let us work together to ensure that the supports for disadvantaged areas, the development officers and the coaches, are kept in place. We must work in a constructive manner to put a structure in place to allow that.I do not know whether that should be done by way of a debate in the House or in committee. I welcome the Minister's initial response. I would be happy to work with any group to make sure the resources and services provided to disadvantaged communities are kept in place during what will be a worrying period for many people who work for the FAI. These staff are facing redundancy as we approach Christmas and they do not know where they stand.