Grants start to flow, but can the scheme survive?

SOME 1,800 senior intercounty players will this week finally benefit from their share of the much-debated €3.5 million Government awards grant. The money was released through the Irish Sports Council to the GAA yesterday morning, and will be distributed directly into the nominated bank accounts of the individual players over the coming days - a small but timely end-of-year bonus.

Every county player was entitled to claim a refund of eligible expenses in the same way they claim expenses from their county committee. The scheme was based on a sliding scale, increasing with continuing involvement in the championship - ranging from individual payments of €1,400 to €2,500.

Further funding available to county squads, an annual team performance scheme and annual support scheme, was based on a panel of 30 players - ranging from €42,000 to €75,000.

"The process at this stage is fairly straightforward, in that the money goes directly to the GAA at central level, and is then distributed to players around the country," said GAA operations manager Feargal McGill, who since his appointment last summer has also taken over responsibility for player welfare.

"What the players did, in submitting their claims, was include a nominated bank account, and the money will be forwarded directly into that. But in fairness, a massive amount of work has gone into this over the last couple of months to ensure the players fill out the claim forms correctly, and so on. And there was a huge volume of forms, roughly around 1,800, and it was a big responsibility for everyone involved."

Totalling up the final €3.5 million package, as agreed by Congress back in April, was far from straightforward, and although it worked on the apparently simple basis of vouched expenses only, the annual team performance scheme was based on a team's showing during the championships, and only applied to the 12 football teams who qualified for the third round of the All-Ireland qualifier series or reached a provincial final, and the 12 hurling teams in the MacCarthy Cup.

Likewise, the annual support scheme for the development of excellence was based on the achievement of standards and performance-based criteria designed to maintain the levels of preparation of the teams and individuals. This scheme applied to teams who participated in the championships but did not qualify for the team performance scheme.

"Inevitably there were some teething problems," added McGill, who was also part of the five-man national committee charged with overseeing the distribution of the money.

"There was a lot of assistance provided by Dara McGarty, from the Gaelic Players Association (GPA), and also the county officers around the country, in terms of what the players could and couldn't claim for.

"On top of that, the Sports Council needed verification on certain things, which was understandable. This was public money they were charged with and everything had to be above board. The players had to submit documentation to authenticate the claims and that the money was spent for the right cause."

From the outset, the GAA went to considerable lengths to ensure the scheme avoided any potential conflict with Rule 11 and their amateur status, and was also in line with European law and tax exemption. Even the title of the scheme - "Annual team performance scheme and annual support scheme for the development of excellence in the indigenous sports of hurling and Gaelic football" - carefully removed any hint of direct financial aid.

But, having battled for several years to get the grants scheme in place, the GPA will inevitably breathe a sigh of relief that the money is finally seeing the light of day - only now the battle now is to maintain it.

Comments by Minister for Sport Martin Cullen in the Dáil last month suggested the scheme would be on the chopping board next year, given the inevitable sporting cuts across the board.

In the recent Budget, funding to the Sports Council was reduced from €57.631 million to €53.026 million - a €4.6 million drop, or around eight per cent, and that will most likely be reflected in the GAA players grant for 2009, even though it was agreed as a three-year scheme.

But according to Paul McDermott of the Irish Sports Council, nothing has been decided: "It is being discussed, along with all the budgets for next year, but no decision has been reached yet, nor will it be until early in the new year."

McGill, meanwhile, also confirmed the anti-doping hearing regarding Kerry footballer Aidan O'Mahony will be heard before Christmas, most likely early next week.

Last month it was announced O'Mahony was found to have elevated levels of salbutamol, the legal asthma medication, in his system following a doping test after last September's All-Ireland final.

While O'Mahony did have a therapeutic use exemption for the medication, the levels were still above the permitted level, resulting in the GAA pursuing the case as a matter of course.

However, the provisional suspension imposed on O'Mahony was lifted at a preliminary hearing a fortnight ago, and the almost certain outcome of the full hearing will be a warning for the player, but no further penalty.