Vol. 493 No. 1
28 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if he will reconsider his refusal to allocate a grant of £100,000 to a club (details supplied) Dublin 11 in view of the enormous contributions made by the club to the sporting and social life of the community and the services it provides for hundreds of young people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15144/98]
The sports capital programme provides national lottery funding towards the provision of sports facilities at national, regional and local level. It is the primary vehicle for assisting the development of sport and recreational facilities in Ireland and comprises the major facilities and the recreational facilities schemes.
An application for funding under the programme was received from Erin's Isle GAA Club in January 1998. Following an examination of the some 1,400 applications in hand, including that from Erin's Isle, at 11 February 1998, the closing date for receipt of applications under the existing programme, the full 1998 round of grants under the programme were allocated last April. Erin's Isle GAA Club was not among the 235 projects approved for grant aid in 1998 and was advised accordingly. As all available funding under the programme has now been committed, I am not in a position to reconsider the application for funding from the club.
The sports capital programme is under review. This review will be carried out over the next few months and when it is completed, which I expect to be towards the end of 1998, details of the new schemes will be widely publicised. It will then be open to clubs and organisations to apply for funding under the new schemes.
