FAI called into Public Accounts Committee as concern deepens

The FAI, Sport Ireland and the Department of Sport have been invited to appear before the the Public Accounts Committee to discuss use of exchequer funding.

Breaches of remuneration limits for chief executive Jonathan Hill have already led to €6m of state funds being halted and the FAI’s hierarchy are already due to be grilled on December 13 by members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport & Media.

But now the powerful Public Accounts Committee, central to the recent probe into RTÉ’s corporate and financial governance crisis, want answers themselves.

James O’Connor, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork East, and youngest member of the Dáil, insists Hill has “serious questions to answer”.

Accounting firm KOSI established that Hill was paid €12,000 in 2022 in lieu of holidays not taken despite this practice being prohibited in the staff handbook for their 240 employees.

Hill, who hasn’t relocated from his London base to Dublin from his London home three years in the job, must also pay €8,500 in benefit in kind (BIK) on the expenses arising from his regular commutes.

As Thursday’s PAC session was concluding Mr O’Connor told the committee that he wanted to flag “an item of deep concern . . . in relation to ongoing financial and regulatory issues in the Football Association of Ireland”.

The public representative wants the analysis to be extended to include a deep dive on where the significant Covid-19 resilience fundings were dispersed.

Hill recently admitted the income stream helped the FAI reduce their debt by almost €20m to €44m.

Mr O’Connor said: “It is worth noting over €60m of Government funding was provided to the FAI in the past five years.”