FIFA payment to FAI outside remit of Dáil committee

The Chairman of the Dáil's Transport Committee has defended the decision not to call in FAI Chief John Delaney to discuss a €5m payout from FIFA.

It was announced yesterday that Mr Delaney will not face questions from TDs about the payment - which came in the wake of Thierry Henry's handball which stopped Ireland from qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.

The Committee said it received procedural advice that the matter was outside its remit, because the funds are not public money.

Fine Gael's John O'Mahony, the Chairperson of the Transport and Sport Committee, said: "What's important is that we follow the rules of what the committee does cover and doesn't cover.

"What happened last October following the Angela Kerins case is that protocols were drawn up in relation to what was the exact remit of committees.

"Obviously, that advice when it is given has to be taken into consideration as well."