Opinion

Lessons from sports hardship fund must be learned

IT is beyond question that the Covid pandemic presented public servants on these islands with unprecedented challenges.

Aside from the herculean response of health workers, shutting down large swathes of the economy and wider society required rapid intervention to keep many businesses and other organisations afloat.

Enormous sums were set aside as governments scrambled to provide support and a debt is owed to all those who went above and beyond the call of duty during this extraordinary period.

However, it is also important that the abnormal circumstances of the last year do not hinder the normal scrutiny of how public money is spent.

It is in this context that an Audit Office report has highlighted concerning shortcomings in a hardship fund provided for sporting organisations.

The Sports Sustainability Fund saw £23 million distributed across 22 sporting bodies and more than 400 clubs.

The laudable intention was to assist organisations starved of funds and at imminent risk of closure.

In some cases, however, the scheme went much further and ended up not just covering losses but underwriting pre-pandemic profit levels.

By way of example, the largest single grant of more than £1.5m was paid to the Royal County Down Golf Club, despite it making a projected loss of only £900,000 and having a "very significant bank balance and a high level of reserves".

While Auditor General Kieran Donnelly said such outcomes are likely to have been unintended, they clearly represent an inappropriate use of public money.

Asked about the scheme in the assembly yesterday, communities minister Deirdre Hargey rightly pointed to the "extreme time pressures" involved.

However, it was disappointing to hear her merely speak generally of "lessons that can be learned", rather than address specific issues raised in the report.

The huge sum paid to the Royal County Down club in particular should have rung alarm bells among those involved in the fund.

If it is considered appropriate to attempt to recoup money in some cases, as has happened elsewhere during the pandemic, that commitment should be made.

Other sectors of society who suffered huge financial loss over the last year are entitled to a detailed explanation as to why some sporting organisations appear to have been treated differently.

It is only then that we can be confident lessons have been learned and are being shared across the public sector.