Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will move to Mr. Ryan, who is welcome. I told my colleagues earlier in private session that being from Meath we do not have any problems because we always played by the rules and we did not need whistles. We have come a long way from the incidents of the 1980s with referees being put into the back of Fiat Uno's. On a serious note, I am guessing Mr. Ryan heard David Gough, my fellow countyman, on "Morning Ireland" this morning.

He pointed out the abuse in the GAA is not the same as what happens in other codes. He disagreed with our colleague, Deputy Dillon, and said we are not at the stage where we are talking about escalating to strikes. I agree with him on that. He is a top referee in this country. He was candid in saying he is not sweeping things under the carpet. I have experience as a dad going to my son's under-10s matches and formerly as a reporter. David Gough pointed out that there are rules for sanctioning players and officials. Where do we stand on sanctioning parents on the sidelines? Second, online abuse is a problem in the association. It cannot govern the online space but what is happening in the communications department? Officials are being abused online on social media.