Written answers

Thursday, 1 October 2020

Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

Sport Ireland

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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127. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of the involvement and-or engagement of a person (details supplied) with Sport Ireland and an organisation; the amount expended on their behalf from public funds on legal representation and advice from 2016 to 2019 and to date in 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27976/20]

Photo of Catherine MartinCatherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The person referred to by the Deputy has no involvement or engagement in the operations of Sport Ireland.

In respect of the organisation concerned,  while the person referred to by the Deputy remains an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, I understand that they have not had any involvement or engagement with that organisation since they announced their self-suspension from the IOC in 2016.

I can confirm to the Deputy that no public funds have been disbursed by Sport Ireland to the person or organisation to which the Deputy refers, to pay for legal services for that person in the period 2016 to 2019, nor have any public funds been expended on same to date in 2020.

I would like to take the opportunity to once again commend the Chairperson and Board of the organisation concerned for the transformative reforms which have been implemented over the past four years. This organisation has been an exemplar for good governance in the sport sector and the lessons learned have been of benefit to many other sporting bodies. The real beneficiaries of this process are of course our high performance athletes and teams who now have a far greater role in decision-making to ensure their interests are paramount in all matters.

I have been advised that Sport Ireland's working relationship with the organisation is excellent and the collaboration with the organisation and other relevant sporting bodies is working very well. The postponement of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games has been a significant setback for the dedicated athletes and their coaches, who have also had to deal with the wider disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However I am heartened to see many of our athletes performing on the world stage in recent weeks, including Sam Bennett in cycling and Ciara Mageean and Nadia Power in athletics. I am confident that the resilient high performance programme led by Sport Ireland will ensure the athletes have every support as they look to achieve their dream of standing on the podium in Tokyo.

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