Have player grants been scrapped ?????????

[fearglasmor]

I have an 11 year old daughter.
Previously, she could have had an immunisation that would have prevented cervical cancer in later life.
Now, because of health budget cuts, this immunisation will cost €600

I am assuming the notion of paying guys to play football  is being scrapped.
If not I'd like to know why ?

[feetofflames]

Did the Cork players get grants this year?

[Bensars]

I have an 11 year old daughter.
Previously, she could have had an immunisation that would have prevented cervical cancer in later life.
Now, because of health budget cuts, this immunisation will cost €600

I am assuming the notion of paying guys to play football  is being scrapped.
If not I'd like to know why ?

While i have sympathy with you in regards to health costs you may now incur , i dont think its fair to place a guilt trip on inter county footballers as a  result. ( for the record i was against the payments at the time ).

The irish government funds many sports organisations and the revenue spending in all aspects of social policy should come under closer examination rather than lay the blame (or insinuate blame) at the door of the GAA or indeed its participants

[Hardy]

I have an 11 year old daughter.
Previously, she could have had an immunisation that would have prevented cervical cancer in later life.
Now, because of health budget cuts, this immunisation will cost €600

I am assuming the notion of paying guys to play football  is being scrapped.
If not I'd like to know why ?

That's a fine example of Joeduffynomics.

[fearglasmor]

Maybe I didnt really make the point very well.

It's not about €600 cost for me. It's about allocation of scarce resources. This requires choices to be made. Choices as to which areas of expenditure give the greatest return.

If the government were giving sports grants to National schools, I could see where the return would come down the line.
If resources are withdrawn from schools will kids take less exercise, be even more unfit and have further health problems in years ahead ?
I would probably say yes.

If resources are withdrawn from intercounty players grants, will players continue to play intercounty football ?
I would say they will.

We are being told we all have to make hard sacrifices.
We have gone overnight from being one of the wealthiest countries to bust. Or so we are told.

The argument before the grants scheme was approved, that the money could be better spent in other areas, is even more valid now than it was then.

[Hardy]

Sorry fgm for the smart-alec post. I was just making the point that the argument that a particular item of public spending could be better spent elsewhere, most often heard on Joe Duffy, is ultimately an argument that we must never spend a public penny on anything while people continue to die of any disease. But I certainly don't mean to defend the player grants. I'm agin them for other reasons.

[Bogball XV]

We have gone overnight from being one of the wealthiest countries

That was the problem, that was simply through manipulation of statistics.
As for the rest of your point, whilst i agree with hardy that your initial post resembled joe duffy economics, I do agree that maybe the money could be better spent elsewhere.  It does seem likely however that these will be cut out pretty quickly.  As usual however the govt are trying to be seen to be blameless, they've already said that the decision on how to allocate monies granted to the sports council rests with the sports council (or whatever it's called down here).
From my own p.o.v I'd rather see gaa players get the money than many of our fine international sportsmen, who are wheeled out every 4 years to varying degrees of success - I don't care about their sports, I don't think they add much to Irish life in general and the fact that they choose to compete in minority sports is their own choice, which should we help them to achieve their dream of being an olympian?

[cornafean]

Make no mistake about it, the players grants scheme will be used by the usual suspects as a stick with which to beat the GAA in the coming years. The "grab all association" brigade haven't gone away.

[Denn Forever]

Make no mistake about it, the players grants scheme will be used by the usual suspects as a stick with which to beat the GAA in the coming years. The "grab all association" brigade haven't gone away.

If a GAA supporter asks this question about Government resources, will it be more valid?

[Mike Sheehy]

Now, because of health budget cuts, this immunisation will cost €600

First place I would look is why the immunisation costs 600Euro.

[paddypastit]

I'm agnostic on the grant issue in that I've never studied it enough to work out whether it is right or wrong and try not to comment on what I don't know so I'm not posting this from one side or the other.

I appreciate that Bogball emphasised that it was his own point of view and none the lesser for it.  I couldn't agree however that "... international sportsmen, who are wheeled out every 4 years to varying degrees of success... [don't] add much to Irish life in general and the fact that they choose to compete in minority sports is their own choice, which should we help them to achieve their dream of being an olympian?"

I know people in both worlds and people that have moved between them.  In many, if not all, respects it is wrong to compare. The intercounty GAA player is also competing by their own choice and although they get abuse and ridicule, mainly from their so called supporters, they also benefit from the profile the games get in terms of social stataus and, for many, employement prospects. In addition they can walk away any time they like (no my name is not Gerald!) and are under no obligation to anybody. On that basis one could argue (and many do) that few of them suffer and that their sacrifice in relative terms is limited with everything provided whereas many of those international sportspersons (to be politically correct) have no support structure, thus have to shell out a lot more and make greater sacrifices.  

Seperately it ios worth pointing out that the Sports Council have no hand act or part in the decision here.  They are just the 'clearing house' / puppet payer through which the government is channelling the dosh so that it (government) can keep up the pretence that it is not coming directly from the exchequer. I know direcltly from sources there that they would love to be shot of it and also that it has created major resentment on the part of all the other sports governing bodies.  You may not care but they do have a point, in my opinion.

[fearglasmor]

Sorry fgm for the smart-alec post. I was just making the point that the argument that a particular item of public spending could be better spent elsewhere, most often heard on Joe Duffy, is ultimately an argument that we must never spend a public penny on anything while people continue to die of any disease.  

In normal time I would agree,  but these are not normal times.  The government are "again" taking the soft option by just rdemanding x% cuts from all departments across the board.
What they should be doing is taking hard decisions and targetting cuts on merit.  But then thats not a good strategy for people who's primary objective is getting reelected rather than making long term plans.

To my mind these player grants are frivolous expenditure in comparison to health and education. Nice to do when you can afford it, but not at the expense of health or education in leaner times.

It's too easy to label something as Joe duffenomics. But its a simple principle that if you dont have enough to go round you have to make value judgements.
Back to the Duffenomics, if you lose your job or take a pay cut you dont apply a standard spending cut accross all your outgoings. You target what you need least and protect the essentials.
Simple, but true.