Mr. Páraic Duffy:

In terms of club grants we fund our major grounds and if we can, we fund county grounds. That has been difficult in recent years but we certainly do all the major grounds. We have two huge commitments at the moment. We are redeveloping Páirc Uí Chaoimh which, as members know, is an €80 million project. We are very grateful that €30 million of this funding is being provided by Government. The remaining €50 million, however, must come from the GAA. Some €20 million will come from Croke Park, €10 million will come directly from Cork's own savings of €30 million, and the rest must be raised.

Of the €80 million for Páirc Uí Chaoimh, the GAA must provide €50 million. It has been a very difficult process but we are also in the process of redeveloping Casement Park and the GAA contribution towards that is £15 million. One of the few advantages of the sterling situation is that we have benefitted in a small way. The point is that the GAA must provide not far short of €70 million for those two stadia and to be fair they absolutely must be redeveloped. If we do not develop them they will fall down and it is also very important for us to have major stadiums in our major cities. We have one each in Dublin, Cork and Belfast. They are also important in the context of the rugby World Cup. They are a huge financial burden on the GAA.

In answer to the Chairman's question, we also fund the clubs through the provinces and make grants available through the provinces. The Chairman's own province for example, where the Munster council gets a grant every year towards club grounds and they add to that fund from their own resources. There are grants available for all the things mentioned by the Chairman. Munster is very good in that space.

The level of grants would depend on the amount of money that they have. We fund clubs to a much lower level through the provincial councils.