The Football Association of Ireland has admitted that it used some of the €33.7 million provided for Covid-19 resilience to pay off a 'legacy' debt, which was against the terms of state funding intended only to offset turnover losses caused by the pandemic.
In response to a question from deputy James O'Connor at the Public Accounts Committee in Leinster House this morning, FAI director of finance Dan McCormack said that just under €1m of that Sport Ireland funding was used to pay off a "legacy commercial liability".
In response to a further question from deputy O'Connor, Sport Ireland CEO Dr Úna May said that a KOSI audit had assured them that the money was "accurately spent" and that the scheme was appropriately enforced.
Since 2020, the FAI has reduced its debt by €20m, from €63.5m to the current figure of €43m.
FAI chief executive Jonathan Hill told Paul McAulliffe TD that that reduction has come about "through scheduled and unscheduled payments", with funding from Europe's football governing body UEFA transferred directly to Bank of Ireland to reduce debt.
Hill said that there would be "four hard and difficult years up to 2028" until co-hosting the European Championships, which is expected to deliver financial gains.
He added that as some of the legacy debt had "a very, very high interest rate, it was wholly sensible for the organisation" to pay it down to enable a move towards financial self-sufficiency and that the FAI "are hopeful that by 2031" it will be on a stable footing financially.
"It's a good thing you didn't ask for a private jet, given whatever you ask for seems to materialise" - TD Cormac Devlin
Earlier, FAI President Paul Cooke admitted that his confidence in Hill has been "challenged by recent events" surrounding the payment of €12,000 to the CEO in lieu of holidays not taken.
The payment led to a Sport Ireland investigation and state funding being temporarily suspended due to a breach of the Memorandum of Understanding agreed between the government and the FAI ahead of the association's bailout in 2020.
Hill said that an unnamed junior FAI staff member had asked, via email, for payment in lieu of holidays not taken. This had been agreed by the then finance director and the chief operating officer.
Responding to this email, Hill agreed to the request and made a suggestion in relation to his own unused leave from 2022 - "Can we negotiate the same for me please!" - which he claims was a joke "throwaway remark" rather than a serious request.
However, the matter was brought to former chairperson Roy Barrett - without Hill's knowledge, he insisted - and Barrett approved the payment, which Hill later repaid to the association
TD Cormac Devlin observed: "It's a good thing you didn't ask for a private jet, given whatever you ask for seems to materialise" while and said the whole situation was "incredibly difficult to believe".
When deputy McAuliffe asked Cooke if he had confidence in the CEO, the FAI president replied that he had confidence in the senior leadership team and the board but did not specifically offer confidence in Hill.
Newly installed independent FAI chairman Tony Keohane said that there had been a "slip up" in relation to the holiday payment but that he does have confidence in Hill and and that the FAI as an organisation has come a long way.
Keohane told TD Alan Dillon that the incident had regrettably taken the spotlight away from the good work done by the association but that he felt Hill's position was tenable, and that he and the leadership team are the right people to take the organisation forward.
FAI director Liz Joyce, in response to a question from Marc Ó Cathasaigh TD, also said that she had expressed concern, through email, about the precedent of employees being paid for unused holidays.
This morning the FAI made available the email chain behind the decision to pay their CEO for annual leave that was not taken. Within this email is the reasoning why circumstances were so unique that the org deviated from their own HR polices, best practice for employee rest and… pic.twitter.com/jZH8jvxTBX
— Paul McAuliffe TD (@PaulMcauliffe) February 22, 2024
Members of the committee expressed their displeasure at the FAI only sending on their opening statement this morning, and sending heavily redacted copies of emails referring to the holidays - requested on 1 February - late last night.
FAI board member Catherine Guy said: "We know that we were late. I can assure you that there was a significant body of work to be done. We did take some care."
The FAI said the emails had been redacted to protect the junior employee involved but committee chair Brian Stanley suggested it would have been sufficient just to redact their name.
When asked why even the date and times on the emails had been redacted, Guy told deputy Dillon that the organisation had sought legal advice and there had been no attempt to conceal.
She went on to say that the FAI, as an employer, did the redaction in respect of its duty of care to its staff.
Deputy Devlin said that the lateness of the opening statement and the 'throwaway remark' explanation from Hill suggested that the organisation is "going from bad to worse".
Hill disagreed, stating that revenues will increase this year, after exceeding expectations to reach €58m in 2023, and that the FAI have now adhered to 159 of 163 governance regulations.
Commenting on today's hearing, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that increasingly the Government is being asked to manage organisations in sport and broadcasting.
"It is becoming a bit challenging," he told party colleague James O'Connor in the Dáil.
"We will look at how the money was allocated," Mr Martin said. "Because if funding is allocated we want the funding to be spent for the purposes of the allocation.
"Increasingly, the Oireachtas and the Government seems to almost have, as its responsibility, the micro-management or the management of organisations in sport, dare I saw broadcasting, dare I say other areas.
"This is a matter that we should reflect on."
