The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) have agreed on how certain documents given by the former to the latter are to be assessed to see if they are legally privileged.
The ODCE wants to examine the documents as part of its inquiry into “certain matters” concerning the association. The applications, made under the 2014 Companies Act, came before Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds yesterday.
The judge will decide later as to whether the documents are legally privileged and cannot be used as part of the ODCE investigation.
The material at the centre of the application is contained in the minutes of several meetings of the FAI’s board of management held between February 2016 and last March.
The FAI claims privilege over certain extracts of documents it has given to the ODCE so as to protect its position against third parties and not the corporate watchdog.
Kerida Naidoo SC, for the ODCE, said the court was being asked to consider a relatively small number of extracts from two sets of documents, which the FAI deems legally privileged. He said the ODCE may have to make two further similar applications to the court at a later date, one of which would relate to a third party.
The judge adjourned the matter to a date in late July.