Vol. 441 No. 2
113 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education if it is the case that, of the £7 million spent on the scrapped national stadium, a sum of £2.5 million was taken from national lottery funds which were earmarked for sport; and in view of the fact that land involved is being retained by the State as a land bank, if she will have arrangements made that the £2.5 million involved be returned to sport via Cospóir.
The total sports capital allocation since 1988 for the provision of national, regional and local sports facilities, amount to £42.75 million, of which £7.914 million has been expended on the proposed national sports centre. All of this allocation, with the exception of £3 million allocated in the 1994 budget in respect of the recreational facilities scheme, has been provided from the proceeds of the national lottery.
In the same period a total of £40.80 million has also been allocated from the national lottery for current sport programmes.
All funding for sport is decided in the context of the annual Estimates for Public Services and I can assure the Deputy that I will continue to ensure that sport receives its fair share of funding.
The future of the site for the proposed National Sports Centre is under review at present and the outcome of this review will depend on the clarification of a number of legal issues.
