I would like to respond to some of the points that may be relevant from a GAA perspective. Deputy Upton raised the issue of sport in the education system. Before I started to work for the GAA, I was the principal of St. Macartan's College in Monaghan for 11 years and worked as a teacher for 20 years before that. I know a little bit about the scene. I understand the Deputy's point that sport should be a subject on the examination curriculum. The difficulty, as she suggested, is that many schools simply do not have the resources to offer sport as an examination subject. It was mentioned earlier that a number of organisations are sending coaches into schools. The FAI, the IRFU and other organisations make huge contributions to sport in our schools. Much of their personnel is funded by the Irish Sports Council. The GAA sends coaches, many of whom are directly funded from Irish Sports Council funding, into primary and second level schools throughout the country. If that funding is reduced, fewer coaches from all sports will go into our schools and the sport curriculum will suffer greatly.
I would like to respond to the point made by Senator Buttimer. Schools are suffering as a result of the limitation on substitution cover, which has had a serious impact on the GAA's schools programme. A few schools have been forced to withdraw from the programme because they cannot cover teachers when they take kids out to play matches. That is a huge loss to schools and to our sports and other sports. If that continues in the years to come, sport will play a much smaller role in schools than is presently the case.
I would like to speak about transparency and accountability in the context of the spending of money under the sports capital funding programme. Before the programme was cut, the GAA made it clear to the Government and the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism that it was willing to prioritise the projects that should benefit from funding. While we have tried to set priorities, such decisions have to be made by the Department and by the Minister at the end of the day. We are open to any suggestions that will ensure the taxpayer gets value for money, as Deputy Ring said. The money invested in the sports capital programme should be used wisely. I would welcome any suggestions from the Government on how the procedure could be better than it was in the past. I emphasise that the GAA has benefitted hugely from the sports capital funding programme. We thank the Government for that.
The role of ladies, which was also mentioned, has been one of our key challenges in recent years. As ladies football has grown, we have allowed the Ladies Gaelic Football Association of Ireland, which is an autonomous organisation, to use our facilities. Our clubs have benefitted from having to invest more money in facilities to enable ladies football teams and clubs to be established. One of the great benefits of the sports capital programme has been that we have been able to expand our facilities to allow further growth in the ladies game. We are open to better ways of doing it. It is primarily a matter for the Government to say to us that it wants to introduce new measures of accountability and transparency. We will certainly be willing to help with the process of prioritising such measures.
One of the issues that has come up is the sharing of facilities. I would like to respond to Deputy O'Mahony's comments about Lansdowne Road, in the context of yesterday's statement by the president of the GAA. Our position on the future use of Croke Park is based on our respect for the views of the FAI and the IRFU. They have developed a wonderful new stadium. We respect their stated position, which is that they wish to use the stadium for all their fixtures. If the FAI or the IRFU decide to consider changing that position, the GAA will talk to them. One of the benefits of the use of Croke Park by the FAI and the IRFU over recent years has been the development of an excellent relationship between the three organisations. The fact that we are here today is significant. I have a first-class working relationship with Mr. Browne and Mr. Delaney. That is the way it is at national level. This is a matter for the FAI and the IRFU. We will not comment further. It is a matter for them to decide what their position is. We will respect their views, whatever they may be, and respond to them in the future. We are always open to the sharing of facilities.
I understand Deputy Upton's point about the importance of sharing all facilities. It is a question of value for money. When the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road was initially proposed, there was a possibility that it would be used for gaelic games as well. We were very open to that, but it did not happen for very good reasons. We would have liked Tallaght Stadium to have been developed as a multi-sport facility too. It is not possible to play our games there. As an organisation, we are open to the sharing of facilities. I appreciate that will have to be a key factor in urban areas where land is scarce and money is tight. The GAA is open to that. Many local authorities have developed floodlit astroturf pitches over recent years. Many of those pitches do not facilitate the playing of gaelic games because they are too small. We would love to see local authorities developing full-size astroturf pitches that can be used for gaelic football, hurling, soccer, rugby, etc. The GAA would be a willing participant in the sharing of such facilities.
While I was principal of St. Macartan's College in Monaghan, it was lucky enough to get Government funding for a sports hall. We raised a lot of money ourselves. One of the commitments we gave the Minister who provided the funding at the time, Deputy Martin, was that we would make our facilities available to local groups in the evening. I have been gone for the school for three years, but I understand that the sports hall is in full use every evening from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. That can be done. Part of the responsibility is on the Government to attach such conditions when funding is being provided.
I was also asked about the resolution of disputes. I was interested in Deputy Upton's comments about various means of resolving disputes. I remind her that the GAA established an internal disputes resolution authority four years ago. It is in its fifth year now. In the past five years, just one GAA dispute has gone to the courts. It proved to be a very costly experience for the group that took the case. GAA clubs do not go to the courts any more. They use the internal disputes resolution procedure, which has been extremely successful for the association. I welcome any developments in that regard.
I cannot argue with Deputy Michael Kitt's suggestion that the GAA always seems to have problems with objections. That has been the way of the GAA for the last 125 years, unfortunately, and will probably continue for the next 125 years. I will not argue that point.
I assure Deputy Ring, who spoke about ticket prices, that we are conscious of our responsibilities to our supporters. The GAA's attendance figures held up extremely well this year, despite the economic situation, although its revenues fell significantly because it charged lower prices. While our headline prices may have remained the same, we allowed kids into virtually every game in Croke Park this summer, with the exception of the All-Ireland Final, for €5. Family tickets are available in every one of our stadiums. We will continue to do all we can to offer value for money to our patrons. The GAA congress has not been held in Dublin in any of the last four years. As Senator Buttimer said, it was held in Cork this year.