THE Secretary of the Department of Education told the Committee of Public Accounts yesterday that it could assume they were paying "a lot of attention" to the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) following recent public controversy about sponsorship.
Dr Don Thornhill told Mr John Ellis (FF) that he was satisfied the OCI had spent its grant of £759,000 from the Department on the purposes for which it was intended. Dr Thornhill said that the OCI dispenses about 85 per cent of this to other organisations and keeps 15 per cent for marketing, administration and other costs.
The Department had received a fully vouched auditor's report from the OCI, Dr Thornhill added. He told Mr Ellis that the recent controversy was not something he would comment on but the Department "will certainly ask the questions and evaluate the answers".
Apart from the OCI grant, the Department of Education has made £150,000 available for Olympic Aid Atlanta. This money is to allow potential medal winners to go into full time training, Dr Thornhill said.