Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I was very clear in my contribution that the money provided to the GAA from Exchequer funds is fully accounted for. It is a large organisation. I can be very dispassionate when dealing with Exchequer funds and I hope Deputy Connolly knows that. When I attended my own GAA club's annual general meeting last week, I saw that the public moneys it received were fully recorded and accounted for. The GAA is a large organisation, operating at central council level, provincial county level, county board level and club AGM level, which all have separate accounts.

Public moneys paid to the GAA must be fully accounted for and are subject to scrutiny by the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport. My point is that public moneys were not the issue here. Instead, it was ticketing issues and a personal credit card. Public moneys must be properly discharged and accounted for not just by the GAA but also the Football Association of Ireland, FAI, the Irish Rugby Football Union, IRFU, or any other sports organisation in receipt of such moneys, and rightly so. There was an inference in that letter that tried to conflate two things which are completely separate. That was my point.