Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the guests in attendance today. I wish to thank the Cathaoirleach for the invitation to Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, Larry McCarthy, to address the Chamber just over a week ago. One of the final things the uachtarán mentioned was the fact that GAAGO was available for €79. Unfortunately, since then, I have been contacted by a number people and, as Senator Keogan said, many people are unhappy with that service. They are asking how they can get access to their sport on national television. The major issue people who contacted me and colleagues in the Labour Party have is the lack of, and unreliability, of broadband in their areas, particularly in rural areas. This is causing a huge problem, particularly, as has been said, for the many older people contacting us who are simply not in a position to avail of broadband services in their areas. It is a huge issue. Many of us are avid GAA fans, as was pointed out last week when the uachtarán was in the Chamber. We must listen to Dónal Óg Cusack, who appeared on "The Sunday Game." I thought he was quite eloquent and straightforward in his comments on the sport I love, which is hurling.The promotion of hurling is suffering in this country, because the major game, including the Munster championship, which the Cathaoirleach knows well, is just not on national television. The games that have been played over the past couple of weeks are not just important to people in Munster, but to people throughout this island. People are losing out, and hurling is also losing out. It is something which needs to be addressed. The quality of these last couple of games, and the way that teams have gone about their business, needs to have a wider audience than GAAGO. As somebody who spoke out when we learned about Sky Sports and the package that was being offered, it would be remiss of me not to mention what has been happening with GAAGO. Too many of those people who need to see our national games throughout the island, and not just in those competing counties, are missing out.

As I said regarding TG4 when the president of the GAA was here, that is a magnificent service, and it has been asked, "Where do we show these games?" TG4 does a magnificent job and it should be given more championship games. On that note, last Saturday, when I was unable to get to Dublin to watch our under-20 footballers in their All-Ireland semi-final, which they won again, TG4 filled that gap for me. I want to wish them well in the All-Ireland final in Cavan on Sunday. However, this is what needs to happen. We need to look at the people who are losing out. Hurling is the big loser here, and that is a serious issue for me.