Clare GAA secretary Pat Fitzgerald questions ‘bogus’ injury cash claims
Fitzgerald announced at Wednesday night’s Clare convention that insurance costs for next year were increasing by 51%, hitting out at the “bogus claims” which were lodged against the player injury scheme in 2015.
The county board secretary was dumbfounded at how clubs could sign off on a claim when the injury of the individual in question had not arisen from GAA-related activity.
“I am well aware of a number of players this year... one player got money and he got the injury in rugby, I know that,” alleged Fitzgerald.
“I know another lad who got his injury in soccer.
“What I can’t understand is how our clubs will sign that and approve it, I will never know. It is like putting your hand in your own pocket and taking your money out of it.”
Fitzgerald added: “Last year, our insurance bill was €61,140, and we got in excess of €7,000 of a rebate. So we paid just over €54,000. This year it is €83,034. I have here the property insurance and it has come to Clare that in the past 12 months, €22k, €31k, €36k and €52k has been claimed. I think we all know, if you get something like that, you have to pay for it.
“We are not far away from a situation where, as a club, if you claim and then reclaim, then the levy will be put on that club.”
Former Munster Council chairman Noel Walsh, meanwhile, was successful in again getting through his motion calling for GAA grounds to be opened up to other sports.
The motion received 37.9% backing at this year’s Congress and Walsh believes it will fare much better second time around.
The Miltown-Malbay club man was unsuccessful, however, in tabling a motion which sought to decrease the two-thirds majority required for a motion to be passed into law to 55%.
In the wake of the Kerry convention last week, where Beale successfully put forward a motion demanding that all GAA games be made available on free-to-air television, Éire Óg Ennis have also called for an end to Sky’s exclusivity over certain championship matches.
“The decision to give exclusive broadcast rights for certain matches to subscription television channel Sky was not taken by the GAA members at Congress, which I felt it should have been,” said Éire Óg delegate, Gearóid Ó hEarcaín.
“Not alone does Sky hold exclusive broadcasting rights to certain matches, the Sky contract stipulates that when a particular match is being broadcast on Sky Sports, no alternative match can be shown at that same time, by any other channel. In my view, Sky is dictating to the GAA what can and cannot be broadcast at a particular time.
“Having pay-per-view live GAA matches is, in my view, totally at odds with the ethos of the GAA. The GAA is an amateur sports organisation and it should provide matches on non-subscription channels in Ireland.”
