Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First of all, I welcome Terri and Patrick from the transition year class in Mercy Secondary School, Ballymahon who are here with me today to see behind the scenes in Leinster House.

I was not here yesterday to speak on the GAAGO issue. As treasurer of my own GAA club, I was out selling lotto tickets last Sunday evening. I am also a former chairperson of the Longford hurling board. I have gone to Croke Park with Longford GAA and I am involved with the underage game at home. My young fellow plays hurling with the Westmeath and Roscommon league because we have only a small number of clubs in Longford. The GAA constitutes more than one sport. It includes Gaelic football, handball, rounders and Scór. These are all sports which need to be supported. I am disappointed with what I see nearly as a witch-hunt, to be honest, in the media against the GAA. There is more to the GAA than just a small number of counties which play at the highest level. Some 32 counties play hurling plus Warwickshire, Lancashire and London. Gaelic football is played by 32 counties plus New York and London. We also have international clubs throughout the world. This is a massive organisation which needs to be supported and funded. To be honest, I am disappointed. GAAGO was put in place to ensure that more games are available for us to watch. Many of the people who have made comments about the cost of GAAGO, which was €55 before Christmas for all of the games, probably have Sky Sports and are paying €480 a year to watch Premier League soccer. A very small amount was being sought to allow people to look at more GAA games. Some 83% of the revenue which the GAA takes in goes back out to its clubs. This includes the money earned through GAAGO. A multi-million euro outlay is required to provide all of these games. As I have said, I am the treasurer of my own football club. I know about the funding we get from the GAA. Over the past two years, we have received a refund of up to €10,000 on our club insurance to ensure our club survives to be able to provide sports for our young people.

The Limerick-Clare game has been mentioned as one of the games over which there was a major issue. That game was initially fixed for the Sunday and was meant to be free-to-air on RTÉ but because of another event in Limerick, the Great Limerick Run, it was moved to the Saturday. As a result, RTÉ showed a different game live on the Sunday. The GAA took the decision to put the Limerick-Clare game on GAAGO so that people would be able to see it. The game was actually moved from free-to-air because it was clashing with an event in Limerick on foot of a request to do so. The reality is that the number of games on free-to-air television has not reduced in recent years. I would like people to bear in mind what the GAA gives to every community in our country and throughout the world. We need to stop what I feel is a witch-hunt against the organisation.