Minister for Arts, Sport & Tourism Martin Cullen has admitted that the future of the player grants scheme could be in doubt because of economic constraints. Speaking in the Dáil today, Mr Cullen announced that €3.5 million had been provided under the scheme this year but that a reduction in the overall Irish Sports Council (ISC) budget for next year may affect the scheme.
The Minister was responding to a question from Fine Gael TD and Mayo manager John O'Mahony, who asked that "the principle of grants for players be maintained, whatever the budgetary conditions are."
Mr Cullen said: "I do not have unlimited funds and the future of the Gaelic players schemes will be considered in that context.
"Any assessment of the budget will show that in recent years the GAA, FAI and IRFU have received an incredible amount of resources form tax payers. While this was the proper course of action, it is not sustainable.
"I am convinced that with relatively small sums of money we could achieve much greater success, including at Olympic and world level, in a large number of sports. However, I do not have unlimited resources."