Minister confirms Olympic inquiry report will be delayed

Minister of State for Sport Patrick O’Donovan has confirmed that the report of the inquiry into the distribution of tickets for the Rio Olympic Games will be delayed.

The non-statutory inquiry, which began on September 19th and is being conducted by former High Court judge Mr Justice Carroll Moran, was due to report in 12 weeks. The Minister said "the judge has indicated that this timetable may be ambitious and some delay is anticipated".

The inquiry was established in the wake of the controversy that engulfed Ireland’s participation in the Olympics over the distribution of tickets from Ireland.

The non-statutory inquiry established by the Minister for Sport Shane Ross and Mr O’Donovan is looking at policies, procedures, processes and practices adopted by the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) around ticketing for Olympic Games, including the 2016 Olympic Games, the 2014 winter Olympics, and 2012 summer Olympics.

Rebuild trust

Labour spokesman on sport

Brendan Ryan

said it was the Minister’s job to rebuild trust in the OCI. He said

Pat Hickey

had been president for 28 years, which was “incredible”.

Mr Ryan said it was equally incredible that Mr Hickey still officially retained the position of president while under house arrest in Rio de Janeiro. The Dublin Fingal TD said “this must change immediately”.

He said there had to be provisions in place to ensure that the terms of the president was time limited, as was the case in other major national Olympic bodies.

Mr Ryan said the OCI had no strategic plan. “We have an organisation with an all-powerful president, that is not working to a strategic plan. That is a recipe for disaster.”

Mr O’Donovan said “it would be wholly inappropriate for a Minister and a Minister of State in a department which established an inquiry into this issue in the first place to pre-empt what Mr Justice Moran will report”.

He said the inquiry would provide a blueprint for a governance structure that would be “very clear” and “open to scrutiny”.