I wish to refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 205 of Tuesday 28th July, which I have copied below for the Deputy's information.
In addition, as I informed in my reply to Question No. 179 of last Tuesday, the Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht Catherine Martin and the Minister of State with responsibility for Sport Jack Chambers met with the Board of the association mentioned by the Deputy on 27 July to confirm that they would not reopen for discussion any part of the MOU agreed by the previous Government.
Reply to Question No. 205 of 28 July 2020
As the Deputy will be aware, the importance of independent directors is a key principle of good corporate governance and is a requirement in the Governance Code for Sporting Bodies overseen by Sport Ireland. It is important to recognise that successive governance reviews of the association referred to by the Deputy, dating back to 2002, recommended that a number of independent directors be appointed to the association’s Board. It is regrettable that this was not implemented prior to last year when the association found itself in a profound crisis of governance. The Deputy is correct that the governance review commissioned by Sport Ireland and the association in question recommended that 4 independent directors, including an independent Chairperson, would be appointed to the association’s Board, together with 8 directors appointed from within the association’s governance structure. This recommendation was accepted by the association and the rulebook, memorandum and articles of association were amended accordingly.
Between November 2019 and January of this year, the then Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross and the then Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Tourism and Sport Brendan Griffin, T.D. met on a number of occasions with delegations from the Board of the association concerned who were seeking emergency financial assistance to stave off the looming threat of insolvency. In January, the then Ministers informed the Board that any additional funding would be conditional on the association committing to further governance reforms, which would extend beyond the recommendations of the 2019 governance review, including a commitment to appoint additional independent directors. The Ministers made it clear that such conditionality was essential given that auditors instructed by Sport Ireland had found that the association was not fit to receive public funds. The Ministers advised that, as the State was being asked to provide a multi-annual funding commitment outside of the normal grant scheme for funding sporting bodies, a Government decision was required to authorise the Minister to make available the level of financial support required to safeguard the future of the association and its 203 employees. In seeking the agreement of Government to enter a funding agreement with the association concerned, the then Minister Shane Ross confirmed to his Cabinet colleagues that the association would be required to accept and fulfil a range of additional governance and financial control reforms in order to access Government funding. On that basis, the Minister was granted authority by the Government and duly signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chairperson of the association on 30 January.
Officials in my Department will provide the Deputy with a full schedule of the then Ministers’ meetings with the Board of the association as well as copies of all correspondence between the Ministers and the association during the period in question.
I would like to confirm to the Deputy that the Government is fully committed to the MOU signed by my predecessor and, as my colleagues Minister Martin and Minister Calleary have confirmed in writing, we have no intention of renegotiating the terms of the MOU. I recognise that the governance changes required in the MOU go further than the requirements of the Sport Ireland Governance Code or the recommendations of the association’s 2019 governance review. However, these conditions are essential to restore public confidence in the association, to safeguard the very considerable public funds which are to be disbursed and to ensure there is no return to the dysfunctional leadership which led the association to the brink of insolvency.
