Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has said it is "a matter of grave concern" that Sport Ireland has referred a report on the finances of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to the Garda.
Mr Flanagan said he hasn’t seen the report and gardaí will engage in “appropriate investigations”.
Minister for Sport Shane Ross said in a statement on Wednesday evening that Sport Ireland had made the decision to refer the report to the Garda after receiving the final version and discussing it at board level.
Sport Ireland commissioned the forensic audit of the FAI in the wake of controversy relating to its finances and its former chief executive, John Delaney. The FAI said on Wednesday night it had not received a copy of the final report, but it would co-operate with all ongoing inquiries.
“It’s a matter of grave concern,” Mr Flanagan told reporters on Thursday. “I note that the report has been referred to An Garda Síochána. The Garda Síochána will now engage in appropriate investigations. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to make any further comment at this stage.”
‘Unredacted’
Meanwhile, the chair of the Oireachtas committee on transport, tourism and sport, has called for the publication of the “full and unredacted audit” of the FAI’s financial affairs, once legal hurdles are overcome.
Fine Gael TD Fergus O’Dowd said he accepts that due process has to happen since the audit has been sent to the gardaí, but “after that the audit must be published in full and unredacted”.
The Louth TD told RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland that given €50 million in public funds was contributed to the FAI since 2008, it was very important to know exactly what happened to that money, and to restore confidence in the FAI.
He also repeated a call for a total regime change at the FAI and for all current members of the association at governing level to leave.
As soon as the association’s AGM is held, he said, it should meet the transport, tourism and sport committee to “go through the issues to try and bring this forward”.
Mr O’Dowd said the appointment of four new independent directors to the FAI has been delayed until there was “clarity and confidence” in the audit and the outcomes.
The new directors should meet with KOSI, Sport Ireland and the department to go through the principle issues while taking account of the legal issues. If the directors are told “what are the structural issues, what needs to change” then “they could get on with it”.
Mr O’Dowd said the committee wants to have confidence in the outcomes and the findings of reports by Mazars and Grant Thornton and an investigation by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.
Funding for young people and women’s soccer should be restored through Sport Ireland and not the FAI, he said.
