Olympics tickets scandal inquiry - Co-operation is a civic duty

SPORTS Minister Shane Ross asked for submissions from the other political parties about the best way to deal with the inquiry into the controversy over the Olympic tickets.

Labour’s Brendan Howlin responded by calling for a statutory inquiry with the power to compel people to testify. He clearly questions the promise of the Olympic Committee of Ireland (OCI) to co-operate with a non-statutory inquiry.

OCI members could refuse to co-operate and hide behind their own constitution in the matter of confidentiality.

If the non-statutory inquiry were expedited, and the Government then found it necessary to call a much more expensive statutory inquiry, this would be understandable. It should be clear to everybody if members of the OCI had refused to co-operate. They would then be seen to have frustrated the process, despite the OCI’s current assurance of full co-operation.

The extra cost of the inquiry should then be set against future government funding of the OCI, or any other organisation that is non-compliant. The minister is right in exerting diligence in spending taxpayer’s money.

Co-operating with any government inquiry is a civic responsibility. Those who have nothing to hide should be anxious to co-operate and the non-statutory inquiry will afford them that opportunity. Retired Judge Carroll Moran is not being asked to investigate matters of life and death, but he has been given plenty of scope.