Vol. 547 No. 3
353 Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the weighting factors and points classification used in the criteria for the determination of lottery funds for sporting organisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3589/02]
The sports capital programme for 2002 was advertised on 25 and 26 November 2001, with a closing date of 4 January 2002 for the receipt of completed applications. In excess of 1,300 applications were received before the closing date. These applications are currently being evaluated by officers from the sports unit of my Department against the programme's assessment criteria, which are outlined in the guidelines, terms and conditions of the programme.
These criteria include: the extent to which the project, in terms of growth targets, will increase the levels of active participation in sport-recreational sport and-or result in improved standards of sporting performance and how such increases can be measured; the extent to which the project, in terms of growth targets, will serve to increase participation in disadvantaged areas; the technical merits of the project, that is, does the project comply with standard technical specifications from the relevant governing body and statutory authorities; possession of planning permission; the financial viability of the project, that is, in addition to lottery funding, has the club-organisation sufficient funds or firm commitments for funding to complete the project within a realistic timeframe; the level of local funding available – higher rating is given to projects with a significant local contribution; given realistic projections of income from the project, the extent to which the applicant will be able to maintain the project after completion; the level of socio-economic disadvantage in the area and the current and planned levels of sport and-or recreational sport facilities in the area; the need to achieve an equitable geographical spread of funds, having regard to the range of existing facilities in each county; the extent to which applicants have consulted with other clubs, community groups, schools and the local authority in developing their proposals and the outcome of these consultations; in the case of projects aimed at attracting people from disadvantaged areas, the strategies to be used to attract them; the need to achieve an equitable spread of funds among different sports and community groups; the priority of proposed improvements-facilities in relation to the club's or organisation's existing facilities; and the priorities for their individual sports, as identified by the national governing bodies.
During the assessment process, my Department will consult, as appropriate, with other Departments, State agencies and national governing bodies of sport. Each application is scored between zero and five under the assessment criteria outlined above, depending on the extent to which they meet the criteria. Different "weights"– from one to four – are attached to the various criteria depending on their importance. For each of the criteria, the score multiplied by the weight gives the total points achieved.
