ALL INTERCOUNTY players can now look forward to an end-of-year bonus of between €480 and €800 – although they’ll actually have to wait until the new year to get it. As expected, the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) have now agreed to the significantly reduced Government awards scheme for 2009, primarily on the basis it was better than nothing, but the delay in agreeing to it means the money won’t be distributed until the end of January.

Ultimately the GPA had little choice but to accept the reduced amount of €1,050,000, compared to the €3.5 million handed over last year, but, crucially, it will still be distributed among all teams, rather than the top 20 teams as suggested by the Minister for Sport, Martin Cullen.

Even though it marks a 70 per cent reduction on last year, the GPA conceded it was the only way of keeping the scheme alive into the future, but were also adamant that the reduced amount still benefited all players, even though the sums of money handed out would be watered down considerably.

It means in football, players that made the All-Ireland final can claim up to a maximum of €800, in vouched expenses, while teams that exited in the first round of the football qualifiers can only claim a maximum of €480.

In hurling, where there are less counties competing, players that made the All-Ireland final can also claim up to a maximum of €800, while those exiting in their respective first rounds can claim up to €540.

When Cullen first made the offer of €1.05 million, back in July, he suggested a scheme whereby around 600 intercounty players, from up to 20 of the successful counties in the championship, would get a share of the revised total.

The football total would be €600,000, ranging from €2,500 to the All-Ireland finalists, to €1,000 for the four losing round four qualifiers, and the hurling total €450,000, ranging from €2,500 to the All-Ireland finalists, to €1,000 to the runners-up in the Christy Ring Cup. Under the 2008 scheme, every county player was entitled to claim a refund of eligible expenses, increasing with continuing involvement in the championship, ranging from individual payments of €1,400 to €2,500.

Further funding was available to county squads, an annual team performance scheme and annual support scheme, was based on a panel of 30 players, ranging from €42,000 to €75,000.

But there was the realisation that the minister’s offer of just over €1 million was as good as it gets – particularly given the Government’s increasingly alarming financial state.

The reduced offer was put on the table following speculation that the grants were about to be cut altogether, and speaking at the time, Cullen said the €1,050,000 was the most he could set aside for the scheme.

Cullen also stated at the time of his proposal in July that if the GPA came back and said they’d prefer it was broken down in another way, then he’d “be happy to do that”, and also that the amount would continue going forward, even withstanding all the economic difficulties.

The GAA’s role on the awards scheme is purely administrative, as agreed by Congress back in April of 2008, with each county player entitled to claim a refund of eligible expenses in the same way they claim expenses from their counties.

The GAA’s operations manager, Feargal McGill, who oversees player welfare issues, said the delay in agreeing the final figure meant the money wouldn’t be distributed until the new year, but that the schedule should return to normal next year.

“At this stage the players and county boards are only getting the expenses claims forms, so we’ve been telling the players not to expect the money until the end of January,” said McGill.

“The GPA were also insistent that the scheme should benefit all teams, that all 32 counties were included, and also the likes of South Down, and there is something there for everyone. And we certainly backed them on that. Next year, we would hope to complete it all before the end of the year, especially given this figure has been effectively guaranteed in the long term.”

The GPA had been looking at potential ways of supplementing the Government figure in order to maintain a similar scheme to last year, but that resolution never materialised. The Government awards scheme, although considerably reduced, is somewhat offset by the new GAA-GPA agreement, which has provisions for a fund of €1.1 million for player welfare schemes.