GAA provincial finals, semi-finals and all-Ireland camogie finals should be included in the Government's list of guaranteed "free to air" television events, the Dáil was told.
Opposition TDs welcomed the introduction of the list of "events of major importance to society" which qualifying television broadcasters would have the right to broadcast free instead of "pay-per-view" charges.
But they scorned the Government for the delay and the controversy over the FAI/Sky TV deal, which sparked its creation. It was only because of the "incompetence of government" that "we had the embarrassing and unacceptable situation of not being able to provide free-to-air coverage of a significant soccer match in the autumn", that sports were designated for free to air broadcast, said Mr Simon Coveney, Fine Gael's communications spokesman.
The list includes the GAA all-Ireland senior football and hurling finals, all of Ireland's qualifying games in the soccer World Cup and European championships, as well as the Olympics.
Fine Gael's sports spokesman Mr Jimmy Deenihan, called for the inclusion of GAA provincial finals, semi-finals and camogie all-Ireland finals. Camogie was one of the faster growing sports with up to 70,000 participants.
The Minister of State for Communications, Mr John Browne said that while all the games were important, "the Minister had to make a balanced political judgment". He said "there is a distinction to be drawn between events that are very popular and events that are of major importance to society".
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