Mr. Páraic Duffy:

I will respond to the people who are present first and then answer the other questions. I will first respond to Deputy Fitzpatrick, who raised three points. The challenges in rural areas were raised on several occasions. It is a considerable matter for the GAA. We are finding it tough. The heart of the GAA is in rural Ireland. We are currently finding it tough simply because of the movement of population from west to east. Depopulation along the west coast, in particular, has made it hard from clubs. I am not blaming the Government. It is very hard for the GAA to solve the problem. All we can do is examine our own structures and make arrangements, through our own rules, to allow clubs to stay in existence. We have done that and are trying to be much more flexible in terms of things coming together, forming independent teams for particular competitions, amalgamations and so on but it is a real challenge. If society is to be increasingly built around urban areas, it will be hard for the GAA because our strength is in rural areas, probably much more so than with rugby and soccer. That is a real concern for us. Our contribution is to make our rules as flexible as possible to allow teams and clubs to continue in existence.

I will come back to some of the other points that were raised about this later. It is a challenge for us. In urban areas, we have had huge growth in numbers participating in the GAA, as Senator O'Mahony mentioned, particularly in Dublin, but the problem we have there is the availability of facilities. The GAA model very often is that one tries to form a club and one establishes a community around it with a social centre, pitches and so on. It is almost impossible to do this in Dublin because one simply cannot afford the cost of land and the cost of facilities is so high. In fairness, we get support from local councils and so on, but the challenge in urban areas is that there are so many big clubs in Dublin that have the numbers but simply do not have the playing facilities to cater for all those who want to play. In the west of Ireland there are facilities and not enough players. This is not something we can easily solve. We are very aware of it. We are doing the best we can, but it is a challenge for us.

Senator Richmond and several others mentioned the drop-out rate. This applies to Mr. Browne's organisation as much as to ours and to Mr. Delaney's as well. We lose many children and young people from sport from the age of 15 or 16 onwards. Some of the answers to this are within our own organisation in terms of our competitive structures and so on. One of the things that happens is that kids play all sports up to ten, 11 or 12 but, as time goes on, they realise that perhaps they will not be good enough to play at a competitive level and they drift away. Young people develop other interests and hobbies as they go through their teenage years and adolescence. The drop-off in participation in sport at this age is a worldwide problem and covers a multitude of sports. We are all trying in different ways to remedy this. This year we brought in what we call super game centres whereby we had 80 different places throughout the country where kids who were not affiliated to clubs could come and play the games at particular times and organise games. We are making efforts in this regard, but it is a huge challenge.

To come to Deputy Murphy's points, the first he raised concerned the issue of the separation of boys and girls. He is right that in the summer camps, up to the age of 12, they are together in one group and then the organisations go their separate ways. It is very important that I make the point that the GAA is a stand-alone organisation, but the Camogie Association and Ladies Gaelic Football are independent organisations. Having said that, we have a very close relationship with them and they play all their games on our grounds, which is what we want.

The GAA would like in the long term to become one organisation with the Camogie Association and Ladies Gaelic Football, but we cannot force this on these organisations. They know our views on this. We are working very closely with the three CEOs of the three organisations to put together a template for working together at club level. This is already happening. The GAA is very open to the idea of one organisation encompassing all these organisations but we will not force it because we are the largest organisation and we do not want to be seen to be putting pressure on the other two. However, we are very open to and would be very happy to have the closest possible relationship. Our previous president, Liam O'Neill, and our current president, Aogán Ó Fearghaíl, have made this message very clear. In the long term, I would love to see one gaelic games organisation covering all the sports. That is our aspiration. In the meantime, we will continue to support the two women's organisations in every way we can, financially or otherwise. On the point of gender quotas, this makes us a little different because the GAA per seonly caters for the boys' and men's games. I will come back to gender quotas in a moment but I ask the committee to remember that we are separate from the camogie and ladies' football organisations, which have their own structures, governing bodies and management boards.

Deputy Murphy asked a second question, an interesting one, about clubs overseas. She is absolutely right that the model overseas is very different. The clubs abroad are at club level virtually all amalgamated, whether camogie, ladies' football or GAA, because that is the only way it would work. This is the first thing that is different about the overseas clubs. The second is that in Europe most of the clubs do not have their own grounds and properties so the issue of vesting property does not arise. In America, however, it does. We have grounds in places such as Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco and so on. The vesting model is different, but the clubs or units have their own grounds. They are vested in the GAA, but it is a different model for legal reasons than operates here. Generally speaking, securing property abroad is not as big an issue as it is here. In a number of places outside Ireland the GAA is part of a wider cultural centre and a broad Irish-American unit. Deputy Murphy's point is a good one. There is huge growth overseas and it is growing very quickly.

Senator O'Mahony also raised the point of gender quotas. To be fair to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, although this has caused a huge controversy, whatever else one might say, at least he started a debate, which is no bad thing. People can have their views on the level of consultation or the lack thereof and so on, but one must say at least he has created a debate. For any organisation, ours included, there is nothing wrong with that. A certain percentage within a certain space of time would be very difficult to achieve. All I will say is that the GAA is open to engage in this debate. We have many female people in responsible positions, certainly at county level: county chairmen, county secretaries and county treasurers responsible for payrolls. On our management board we do not because everybody there, bar two people, is elected, and we have not had women standing for those posts as of yet. This will happen in time. We are open to engaging in this debate as it goes on. As I said, it would be better if it were not done through enforcement and if one could get agreement. I do not think this is impossible. I am sure all the organisations would be quite happy to work with Government to see how this might be achieved without being too draconian in how it is done.

Senator O'Mahony asked a question about the two-thirds majority in the GAA in terms of governance. This is tricky. I know first hand that when one tries to introduce reforms, it is very hard to get a two-thirds majority. At last year's congress a number of very good suggestions for change fell because they got a majority but not a two-thirds majority. We have our annual congress in Croke Park at the end of February. There are a number of motions to change this rule, some suggesting a 60% majority, one suggesting a bare majority. The problem is that to change the rule will require a two-thirds majority because this is the rule, so it is a bit of a catch-22. I agree that two thirds is a little high. I think 60% would be fair. I can understand why people want to have more than a 50% majority, but two thirds is high and does make change rather difficult.

On the issue of funding and the funding for Dublin, to which Senator O'Mahony referred specifically, when the money was originally allocated to the GAA, it was allocated specifically for Dublin, for the development of hurling and football. I think this was when Bertie Ahern was Taoiseach. To be fair, this has been very successful in broadening participation in the games in Dublin. Now, as I think Mr. Browne mentioned earlier, the funding we all get from Sport Ireland or through Government is much less than it used to be. We understand this is because of the recession and so on. At the moment the funding is not ring-fenced. It is a matter for us to decide how it is used. We have a manner of deciding how to allocate it. We still allocate a considerable amount to Dublin for two reasons: first, because there is a huge level of activity there; and second, because the initial process that was put in place was that full-time development officers were appointed to clubs all over Dublin, there are people in employment there, that funding pays half of their employment costs and the club pays the other half. Clearly, if one were to remove that funding just like that from those clubs, they probably would not be able to afford to keep those people in place. However, we are aware, particularly our organisation in Dublin, of the need to rebalance that. This is happening at the moment with the approval of the GAA in Dublin. There will be a reduction in the funding going to Dublin, allowing us to invest in other places. Senator O'Mahony's question is a valid one. This is happening and will continue to happen.

Regarding the general distribution of funding, so many parts of the organisation would benefit from more and more funding, both from our organisation and from Government, but much of the time it is a matter of availability of resources. Like every other organisation, we could do an awful lot more if we had more funding, however we get it.

I think I have responded to Deputy Troy's question about gender quotas already.

Regarding sudden adult death syndrome, Deputy Troy is right that players at inter-county level generally are tested. One would love to test every single player at club level for heart issues, but the cost is the big factor. Many players get tested of their own volition, but simply because of the cost factor, we as an organisation and most clubs would not be able to afford to fund testing for every single player. However, we are very well advanced in health training and the use of defibrillators and so on and have done much work around that.

Regarding the amalgamation of clubs, as I said, we prefer if clubs can retain their own identities. The ideal, even if they are small, is that they can remain separate. If they cannot, the next step is amalgamation. Both models are happening, particularly in rural areas. As I said, we would like if they could stay on their own, but if they cannot, amalgamation is the next best thing. What one does not want is a club or an area losing its GAA identity. So far we have done fairly well to retain this, but it is very challenging.

Deputy Troy raised the question of Sky Sports, as did Deputy Munster. I am glad they did because it is important that I respond to this. I wish to put a few points from the GAA's point of view to the committee on this because there are a few myths out there around it. First, we want people to go to the games. Second, if they cannot go to the games, clearly, we would like to give the opportunity to people at home and abroad to watch them on TV. It is important that people realise that now and over the next five years, more than 100 live games per year will be shown on terrestrial free-to-air TV. It is important to keep this in perspective. Sky has only 14 live games exclusively. It has six more, including the finals - football and hurling semi-finals and all-Ireland finals - which it shows at the same time as RTE. This allows people in Britain-----