The sports capital programme for 2000 was advertised in early December 1999 with a closing date of 11 February 2000 for the receipt of completed applications. Initial processing has commenced and a letter of acknowledgement will issue from my Department within the next week to all organisations who have submitted an application.
Applications received under the programme will be evaluated against the programme's assessment criteria which are outlined in the guidelines which accompanied the application form and I hope to be in a position to announce the grant allocations by June 2000. In view of the large number of applications received under the programme, and my heavy schedule of commitments, I regret that I am not in a position to meet with the many groups concerned, including the organisation in question, to hear their development proposals.