Minister: Direct payment to GAA players was never planned

The Minister for Sport John O'Donoghue says the possibility of the Government making direct payments to GAA players was never on the table.

However, the minister said he is confident that an agreement can be reached on the issue of grants for inter-county players.

He said a figure in the region of €5m could still be made available to deal with the issue, but that any funds would have to be administered by the GAA themselves following agreement with the GPA.

"You can't expect a government in any state to actually take over player welfare from the governing body of the sport. That doesn't happen in any country to the best of my knowledge and definitely isn't the way forward," he said.