Vol. 541 No. 3
52 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if his attention has been drawn the financial difficulties being experienced by a number of sporting organisations due to the delay in the payment of grants by his Department from national lottery funding; the measures he will put in place to expedite payments that are outstanding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22054/01]
On applying for a grant under my Department's sports capital programme, all applicants are issued with the guidelines, terms and conditions in relation to the programme to ensure that they are fully aware of all requirements both in applying for sports capital grants and in being able to draw them down if their application is successful. In a number of cases each year, however, delays arise on the part of the grantees themselves in a variety of ways, e.g. through delays in supplying information and legal and other documentation requested by my Department.
I am also aware of delays in the Chief State Solicitor's office – CSSO – in relation to its execution of deeds of trust and have expressed my concerns on the matter to the CSSO.
A deed of trust was required for grants exceeding £39,000 up to and including the 2000 programme. In 2001, I increased the requirement to grants of £60,000 or more. The deed of trust provides inter alia for a refund of the grant in the event of the facility not continuing to be used for the purposes for which the grant was allocated.
My Department, in consultation with the Attorney General and the CSSO, is currently examining ways in which the process might be expedited and in which the number of cases on hands as a result of the considerable increase in the number of grant allocations over the last few years can be cleared as quickly as possible.
