Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 13 Nov 2001

Vol. 543 No. 5

Written Answers. - Sports Capital Programme.

Deirdre Clune

Question:

484 Ms Clune asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the grants or financial supports available to sports clubs which wish to carry out refurbishment projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27733/01]

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation (Dr. McDaid)

The national lottery funded sports capital programme, which is administered by my Department, provides funding to voluntary organisations at local, regional and national level towards the provision of sporting and recreational facilities.

Under the sports capital programme 2001, details of which are available on the Department's website, www.gov.ie/tourism-sport, projects had to be directly related to the provision of sport and recreation facilities and be of a capital nature, which, for the purpose of the programme, relates to expenditure on the improvement or construction of an asset and includes any costs directly incurred in this process.

Under the present Government, more than £106 million, 134.6 million, has been allocated to 2,044 projects under the programme.

I will be announcing details of the sports capital programme 2002 in the next few weeks and it will be open to all eligible organisations to apply at that time.

David Stanton

Question:

485 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the number of applications received under the sports capital programme from groups in each county in each of the years 1999, 2000 and 2001; the number and percentage of these applications that were suc cessful and unsuccessful; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27742/01]

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation (Dr. McDaid)

Under the sports capital programme, which is administered by my Department, a combined total in excess of £100 million, 127 million, has been allocated to 1,798 projects in the three year period 1999-2001.

The following schedule details the specific information requested by the Deputy concerning applications to the programme on a county basis.

It is my intention to announce the sports capital programme 2002 in the next few weeks.

Sports Capital Programme Applications by County 1999-2001

County	1999				2000				2001
	No. of applications	No. of projects funded	% of applications funded	No. of applications	No. of projects funded	% of applications funded	No. of applications	No. of projects funded	% of applications funded
Carlow	34	5	15	25	14	56	17	12	70
Cavan	48	9	19	44	14	32	33	14	42
Clare	53	9	17	48	25	52	48	18	37
Cork	207	45	22	204	71	35	164	71	43
Donegal	111	35	32	102	38	37	95	42	44
Dublin	271	53	20	246	100	42	198	99	50
Galway	108	27	25	84	29	35	72	38	53
Kerry	96	21	22	73	31	42	76	33	43
Kildare	62	32	52	51	29	57	58	38	66
Kilkenny	47	10	21	32	16	50	23	15	65
Laois	36	9	25	34	18	53	44	22	50
Leitrim	37	4	11	29	13	45	25	16	64
Limerick	77	13	17	51	22	43	55	24	44
Longford	32	6	19	23	15	65	29	15	52
Louth	51	13	25	43	19	44	44	26	44
Mayo	103	10	10	69	18	26	79	17	21
Meath	47	11	23	43	20	47	27	16	59
Monaghan	42	7	17	44	17	38	45	13	29
Offaly	41	15	37	37	23	62	29	18	62
Roscommon	48	10	21	39	19	49	36	17	47
Sligo	57	6	10	44	16	36	33	13	39
Tipperary	70	19	27	71	24	34	61	32	52
Waterford	52	10	19	50	22	44	44	19	43
Westmeath	50	15	30	44	19	43	42	27	64
Wexford	59	13	22	64	28	44	60	27	45
Wicklow	57	9	17	51	19	37	30	14	47

David Stanton

Question:

486 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if the amount of money to be allocated, per county, under the sports capital programme is determined prior to the final allocation of applications being decided; if not, the way in which the county allocations are determined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27744/01]

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation (Dr. McDaid)

All applications received under the sports capital programme are assessed on an individual basis by officials in the sports division of my Department in accordance with a detailed set of assessment criteria as specified in the guidelines, terms and conditions of the programme which are available on hard copy and on the Department's website at tourism-sport.irlgov.ie.

Following the assessment process each application receives a score, which decides its order of priority within its own county. Regard is had to the population levels in each county and to providing apro rata level of funding on that basis. Up to 2000, using this pro rata process, the number of projects funded in some counties and the level of grant awarded were unlikely to make a significant impact on the provision of facilities in that country. Therefore, in 2000, I decided to introduce a guaranteed minimum allocation of £200,000, 253,948, per county.

However, the assessment process must also take into account existing levels of facilities in an area and also the strategic positioning of major facilities which may be required and the quality of applications received for such projects. Applications under the programme are received from organisations for local, regional and national facilities. Each year a number of major regional and national projects are allocated funding, the level of which may distort the total allocations to the counties in which they are located.

Recommendations, based on the conclusions from the assessment process and having regard to the amount of funding available for distribution, are made by the sports division to me, as Minister, and I make the final decision on projects and grants to be allocated under the programme.