Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 15 Jun 1995

Vol. 454 No. 5

Written Answers. - Recreational Facilities Scheme.

Seamus Brennan

Question:

45 Mr. S. Brennan asked the Minister for Education the reason the £2 million provided for the recreational facilities scheme in 1995 has been fully committed to projects approved in 1994, in view of the fact that part of the application requirement was ability to claim the grant in 1994; if she will provide a list of projects approved in 1994; the projects funded in 1994; the projects carried over from 1994 and which will receive approved grants in 1995; the approved projects which have not gone ahead or will not be eligible for payment in 1995; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11062/95]

Minister for Education (Ms Bhreathnach)

An allocation of £4 million was provided for the recreational facilities scheme, of which £348,000 was committed to projects where grants were allocated in 1993 and in previous years and where claims for payment were due to arise in 1994. Consequently, the amount for allocation to new projects in 1994 was £3.652 million.

Applications for funding under the scheme were invited by public advertisement in February 1994 and a total of approximately 1,400 applications were received. In view of the large number of applications and the amount of work involved in assessing applications in accordance with the published criteria it was not possible to make the final selecion of projects until August 1994. In view of this delay it was not possible to implement the condition regarding the ability to claim the grant in 1994. All grantee organisations were then notified of the grant amount and of the terms and conditions for payment of the grants. A total of 535 projects were selected for funding.

Grants are not paid until the grantee organisation submits all of the necessary documentation required under the terms of the scheme including certification of construction work. As a result the total expenditure in 1994 was £0.7 million and the carryover to 1995 in respect of these commitments was £3.3 million.

As the Deputy will be aware, projects under this scheme are undertaken by voluntary community groups and sports clubs and it is not always possible to accurately determine the number of projects which will claim grants in a particular year. The £2 million provided for the scheme in 1995 was agreed in the context of the Estimates and was based on the pattern of expenditure for such projects in previous years.

The preparation of the information requested by the Deputy in respect of the list of projects approved in 1994 and those where payments were made in 1994 is under way and will be sent to the Deputy without delay. My Department is also currently in the process of identifying projects which will be in a position to claim grant payments in 1995 as well as those projects which will not proceed this year.