Mr. Donal Smyth:

I would like to say to Deputy Andrews that I have a problem. I am a goalkeeper and a referee, so I must be in real trouble.

As Deputy Fitzpatrick will know, this year the GAA brought in a provision to deal with misconduct of the team officials on the day. Yellow and red cards can now be implemented on the day the referee deals with the situation. The protection of referees is important. We have to encourage referees to report abuse. That is the most important message going out. We have to report it. County boards have to report it as well.

On welfare, I am the point of contact for most club referees. In the background, we have Justin Campbell who provides counselling for us in lifestyle and in other issues relating to that. This year, we have the two big decisions in the championship. The referee can be referred by me, or the referee can contact Mr. Campbell independently. He will deal with mental health issues.

The one issue we had this year, especially at national level, was that we did not have the panels together. As Deputy Fitzpatrick knows well, if there is an issue on a football team, we can look after each other, we can put our arms around each other and we can deal with it. We cannot do that in refereeing because of Covid-19 and bringing everyone to one place. The reality is that what happens in the house, as part of the squad, is as important as what happens outside of it.