TD: Clubs must block audits

A campaign driven by the media is forcing the tax man into looking into payments made to hurling and football managers, according to a member of the last government.

Deputy Noel Grealish, TD for Galway West and a former member of the Progressive Democrats, has called on GAA members to ‘stand up’ and not allow the Revenue Commissioners to carry out audits of their clubs.

Grealish, a former officer of the Carnmore hurling club, was speaking during a special convention on Monday night.

Grealish said he was opposed to payments being made to GAA managers but urged developing a better scheme to pay expenses to them. He also told around 150 club delegates that they needed to band together to stop the taxman coming in to examine their books.

He said: “We all know this is being driven by the media. We are going down a very serious road with the issue of the Revenue Commissioners getting involved and coming out to audit clubs.

“A lot of clubs would like to get a manager from within its own parish but unfortunately some clubs can’t get that and they have to go outside and when you go outside your own club the issue of money becomes involved.

“You have to pay a financial contribution to the manager coming in to the club to train your team. I think what needs to be done is regularise the way the expenses are paid.

“The media are driving this, they are getting the Revenue involved, there’s questions being put to the Revenue by the media asking, ‘are ye going to do anything about this’ and the Revenue then will get involved.

“We have to stand up and everybody should get together. Every penny that is raised by a GAA club and any club is accounted for. Okay, there are expenses paid to managers but maybe we should, on the issue of expenses, work on that and get a fair scheme for every manager. But if you start making payments you are into issues of PAYE and PRSI and so on. But I don’t think we should go down the road of issuing payments to managers.”