GAA and RTÉ asked to appear before Oireachtas committee

The GAA and RTÉ have been asked to appear before an Oireachtas committee to answer questions on the controversy over GAAGO, the Minister for Sport has told the Dáil.

"I do believe that the committee have invited the GAAGO and RTÉ in before them; that will take place," Catherine Martin has said.

It had previously been reported that the Oireachtas Committee on Sport is considering whether to issue an invitation.

There has been criticism of the broadcasting of some high-profile matches from the Munster Hurling Championship in particular on the pay-per-view GAAGO platform, a joint venture between the GAA and RTÉ.

On Sunday evening, RTÉ Sport pundit and former Cork hurler Donal Óg Cusack said the GAA was failing in its task of promoting the game of hurling.

Following that, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said the broadcasting of senior inter-county hurling matches on pay-per-view television should be reviewed.

He said he believes all GAA games should be shown free-to-air.

The Tánaiste also said a significant audience missed the game because it was only available live on GAAGO.

His comments were echoed by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who also called for a review of the streaming of big GAA games on GAAGO.

Yesterday, RTÉ group head of sport Declan McBennett rejected any suggestion that the national broadcaster received exclusive access to GAA matches via the GAAGO platform after Sky Sports decided not to bid for games this season.

In a statement released on Tuesday evening, Virgin Media said it was not approached by the GAA when Sky Sports' broadcasting deal ended with the GAA last autumn.

In the GAA's five-year broadcast rights deal, announced last October, RTÉ retained 31 live