Speaking this afternoon Sinn Féin spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, Louise O’Reilly TD, has welcomed the firm commitment given to her by the Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, this morning that the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement will not want for funding or resources in their investigation into the Football Association of Ireland.

Teachta O’Reilly said:

“The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) has a huge task on their hands in their investigation into the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).

“There are thousands of files and documents to be analysed and assessed, and it is crucial that the ODCE have the necessary staff and resources to carry out what will be a protracted investigation.

“Decades of mismanagement of the FAI, particularly during former chief executives’ tenure in charge, have been exposed in recent years thanks to the media. But there are many serious questions to be answered, and people need to be held to account.

“Irish football is suffering because of that mismanagement. The Association is crippled financially and will be counting the cost for years to come. That has ramifications at all levels of football across the state.

“People involved in grassroots football have been let down by the people running the sport. They are understandably disillusioned and want to see transparency and accountability.

“The government owes it to the footballers, coaches, volunteers, and all involved in the game, to do all it can to fully resource this investigation, so that it has the tools to get to the bottom of what went on.

“This morning I asked the Tánaiste if he could assure us that adequate resources will be allocated to the investigation so as to ensure that we do not end up with a repeat of the ODCE v Sean Fitzpatrick debacle that occurred in 2017.

“In reply the Tánaiste confirmed that the he will make sure that the ODCE has enough resources to carry out its functions in relation to the investigation into the FAI.”