Jonathan Hill under fire from PAC for 'suggesting' payment against FAI policy

Jonathan Hill has admitted he “suggested” receiving an erroneous payment from the FAI but stresses it was in the context of a throwaway remark.

The FAI chief executive is under fire as part of a delegation from the Football Association of Ireland before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Broadly summoned to the committee to deal with governance matters, there is particular interest in the circumstances around the receipt by Hill of €11,500 in lieu of untaken holidays.

This payment not only contravenes his own handbook issued to staff, who are bound by a principle of 'use them or lose them' past a predetermined date but had the collateral impact of his earnings exceeding the maximum salary laid out in the MOU conditions linked to the 2020 bailout.

The PAC are the primary watchdog for how exchequer funding is spent – the Dáil Éireann forum which focuses on ensuring public services are run efficiently and achieve value for money.

This session was initially scheduled for February 1 but was deferred upon the request of the FAI. Another plea to adjourn lodged last week was rejected.

As part of their procedures, certain documentation and information was sought to be submitted in advance.

While the majority of these were complied with, distinctly absent was the FAI’s opening statement and the chain of emails requested to verify Hill’s version of events around his involvement, or otherwise, in the receipt of the overpayment.

He said on December 13 on their last visit to Kildare Street: “I didn’t push it. I wasn’t asking for it.” However, in the belated opening statement, which annoyed the committee, he now states: “I made a suggestion in relation to my own unused holidays.

“The then finance director (Alex O’Connell)