Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 7 Nov 1995

Vol. 457 No. 7

Written Answers. - Sports Facilities Query.

Declan Bree

Question:

213 Mr. Bree asked the Minister for Education when she intends to reply to a letter of 21 June 1995, from Deputy Bree seeking information on her Department's major sporting facilities programme; the reason her office has been incapable of responding to the letter in the intervening three month period in view of the fact that she acknowledged receipt of the letter on 6 July 1995, Ref Educ 2634/95S; her views on whether this type of response is acceptable; if she will introduce procedures to ensure that standards are improved and brought up to the level of other Government Departments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16105/95]

Minister for Education (Ms Bhreathnach):

The major sports facilities programme, introduced by Government in 1988, now comprises 115 projects and the total grants allocated to date under this programme amount to £33.426 million. The present position is that 56 projects have been completed, 24 are under construction and the remainder are at various planning stages. Total expenditure to the end of 1994 amounted to £23 million with the balance of £10.426 million to be funded in 1995 and in subsequent years. Grants are paid on foot of architects-engineers certificates as building work proceeds and when the grantee organisations have met the terms and conditions of the scheme.

The 1995 allocation of £4.1 million for this programme is being expended on these projects as construction work is undertaken. The projects approved for funding in 1994 and the projects in respect of which grants have been paid to date in 1995, as requested by the Deputy, is outlined in the following tabular statement. I am arranging to forward to the Deputy a copy of the 1994 annual reportSport in Ireland which includes details of all grants allocated since 1988 under the major sports facilities programme.

The delay in furnishing the information sought by the Deputy was due to pressure of work in the sport section of my Department in administering the capital programmes involving some 650 existing projects and some 1,500 new applications in addition to processing the resultant large volume of representations following the decentralisation of the section to Tullamore.

Department of Education

Grants Allocated for Major Sports Facilities in 1994

County	Project	£000s
Carlow	Dr. Cullen Park	50
	Graiguecullen Swimming Pool	100
Cavan	Breffni Park	200
Clare	Clare and District Soccer League	100
	Burren OEC	200
Cork	Kinsale OEC	100
	Schull Sailing Centre	300
	Mahon Community Centre	200
Donegal	Letterkenny Sports Centre	100
Dublin	Public Service—Telecom
	Éireann Sports Centre	300
	Loughlinstown Sports Centre	300
	National Boxing Stadium	150
	Clonliffe Harriers AC	35
	Parnell Park	400
Galway	Petersburg OEC	100
	UCG Synthetic Track and Pitch	100
Kerry	Cappanalea OEC	100
	Tralee Sports Centre	150
	Tralee Youth Centre	100
Kildare	Celbridge GAA Club	50
	St. Mary's Convent, Naas	50
Kilkenny	Nowlan Park	200
	Kilkenny City FC	50
	Scanlon Park	450
Laois	Mountmellick Sports Centre	350
	Heywood Community School	50
Leitrim	Ballinamore Sports Hall	300
Limerick	Kilfinnane OEC	100
Louth	O'Raghallaigh Park, Drogheda	100
	Dundalk FC	100
Mayo	Achill OEC	100
	Ballina Sports Centre	400
Monaghan	St. Tiernachs Park, Clones	200
Offaly	Birr OEC	100
Sligo	Swimming Pool	300
Tipperary	Carrick-on-Suir Swimming Pool	50
Waterford	Regional Sports Centre	400
Westmeath	St. Lomans GAA Club	200
Wexford	Shielbaggan OEC	100
General	Irish Amateur Rowing Association	100
	Irish Canoeing Union	50
	Irish Handball Council	200
Total		7,085

Department of Education — Major Facilities Programme Payments to Date in 1995

County	Project	Amount
		£000s
Carlow	Dr. Cullen Park	50
	Graiguecullen Pool	38
Clare	Clare and District Soccer League	80
Cork	Blarney GAA Club	7
Donegal	Letterkenny Leisure Centre	28
Dublin	Croke Park	100
	Parnell Park	380
	Public Service-Telecom Sports Centre	10
	Clonliffe Harriers AC	213
	National Boxing Stadium	106
Galway	Clifden Community School	4
	Terryland Park	5
Kerry	Tralee Sports Centre	10
	Kerry Diocesan Youth Project	40
Kilkenny	Scanlon Park	305
	Nowlan Park	40
Louth	Dundalk Football Club	50
Monaghan	Clones GAA Pitch	190
Offaly	Birr OEC	11
	Tullamore Harriers Ac	7
Roscommon	Hyde Park	5
Tipperary	Toomevara GAA	10
	Sean Kelly Sports Centre	15
Waterford	Regional Sports Centre	202
Westmeath	St. Loman's GAA Club	50
General	Irish Handball Council	39
	Irish Canoe Union	42
	Irish Amateur Rowing Union	84
Total		2,121

The balance of the 1995 provision will be expended on the above projects as further construction work is undertaken and certified. The following projects, where construction work has commenced or is due to commence shortly or where claims for payment are outstanding, will also be in a position to claim payment this year but the actual amount to be paid cannot be accurately determined at this stage: Cork Regional Sports Centre; Achill OEC; Morton Stadium, Santry; Celbridge GAA Club, County Kildare; Schull Sailing Centre, County Cork and Petersburgh OEC, County Galway.