Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A young student, then, from St. Michael's, who suffered a second brain bleed, was selected to play while still symptomatic with an undiagnosed initial brain bleed. There was also a young rugby schoolboy who tragically died from second impact syndrome, and a young schoolboy from Tralee who, if not for the prompt action of his mother in bringing him immediately to hospital, would have had extremely adverse outcomes. Most referees get paid to referee a game and look after the game. I think it is the referee's responsibility to take action if a person takes any kind of a knock. This year we have had fantastic weather and the grounds have all been very hard. I am sure there has been a lot of hard and heavy hitting and falling. Sport is played in a good way, but someone has to look after the amateurs, like the GAA, rugby, boxing; there is plenty of money there. These people have given up their time for absolutely nothing for the love of the sport. It is very important that a referee reports the incident. If the referee, manager, a person on the sidelines, or a player gets any kind of impact he or she should automatically be sent to the local accident and emergency clinic or the minor injuries unit. It is the responsibility of that organisation to monitor the situation going forward. Concussion is getting to be a big thing at the moment. When we saw Brian O'Driscoll getting the wallop in the Six Nations we all panicked that our chances might be gone. Concussion is a big thing. A large number of people and voluntary organisations are putting the effort into it. I think the players should be looked after and the onus is on the witnesses' organisations to look after these people.