SOCCER: John Delaney insisted yesterday that the FAI has "nothing to fear" from a proposed audit of the 15 programmes it currently runs in conjunction with the Irish Sports Council.

Members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have raised questions about the allocation of public funds to the programmes after it was confirmed to them by John Treacy that at least two of the 15 are profitable but still receive Government support.

The programmes in question are coaching courses run by the FAI on a nationwide basis and administered locally by the association's regional development officers. The best known is the Pepsi-sponsored summer soccer schools project which has been hugely successful in recent years.

"The bottom line here is that we would have absolutely nothing to fear from any sort of audit," said Delaney at a press conference held to confirm his acceptance of the post of chief executive of the association on an interim basis.

"In the event that a surplus is generated from one of these programmes that money is used for the benefit of the game, so I don't think there is any problem really," he said. "I would have no problem going to the PAC and explaining the situation. We certainly don't have anything to hide or be embarrassed about in relation to this."

Delaney said his main priorities over the course of the coming months are to accelerate the pace of progress on the implementation of the Genesis report and rebuild the association's relationship with its key "stakeholders" - the Government, sponsors and public.

"The key thing is to get back to doing the simple things well and if we can do that then we can make considerable progress in a relatively short space of time. What people often overlook is that football is thriving at the grassroots level in this country.

"I would accept that some of the criticisms of the FAI have been fair, but there has been a lot of good stuff going on too and I would like to think that people around the country can once again come to view the people in 80 Merrion Square as being there to provide support for them in the work that they are doing for the development of the game."

He went on to stress that he has been in regular contact with Brian Kerr over the past few days with a view to establishing the senior team's views on what is required of the organisation's leadership, and he will meet technical director Packie Bonner on Friday to discuss the association's technical development plan.

"That," said Delaney, "is the keystone and bedrock of the association's future development and we will do absolutely everything we can to support it."

He declined to say, however, whether the association can come up with the resources required to implement it fully, remarking only that "I would prefer to talk about that to Packie on Friday".

Delaney said he would be a candidate when the association seeks to fill the post on a permanent basis, and added that his decision to accept the offer of the post on an interim basis had been influenced by the recent show of unity at the association's council when the situation was discussed.

"That's not something that happens very often within the association and I've been very encouraged by the level of support I've received during the last few weeks."

When it was put to him that a significant proportion of those who have expressed a desire for him to take up the post are critics who simply want to see him take responsibility for events, rather than just influencing them, he observed only that he was going into the job, "with my eyes open".

He hinted that another attempt might be made to persuade the Government that some of the recommendations of the Genesis report in relation to the appointment of full-time managers need not be fully implemented, and said that a number of significant changes that had occurred within the association over the past couple of years would not have been anticipated at the time the report was compiled.

There was no direct reference to the finance director's post that has also been a major bone of contention with John O'Donoghue. Delaney has repeatedly made it clear that Peter Buckley, who attended yesterday's press conference, should get the post, but the Minister for Sport has been adamant that it, like the position of chief executive, should be open to public competition.