Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the House, like me, has great memories of Italia 90 and that great Donegal man, Packie Bonner, a great ambassador for football in his day and still. The reason I say this today is that Packie was once a director of football in the FAI. He and one of his colleagues and many more staff were turfed out of that organisation at a time when a member of his departmental team was raising financial irregularities within the FAI and taking those concerns to the board of Sport Ireland. Nothing was ever done about them. The only result was that Packie, all his team around him and his department were turfed out on the back of a money-saving exercise shortly after 2011, after the irregularities were raised.I find it extraordinary that last week the CEO and chair of Sport Ireland were reappointed for another term. Is the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform aware of, and did he approve, the reappointment of the CEO for another term? Is he also aware that the reappointment of the chair goes against the regulations of Sport Ireland which state that nobody can be appointed for more than two terms? I find it disgusting that these two individuals have been reappointed, considering how they handled the financial affairs of the organisation, the saga which surrounded John Delaney's term in office and the financial irregularities that are now coming to light. I ask both Ministers concerned to open an investigation into these irregularities, dating back to 2010.