Gerard Murphy
Question:150 Mr. Murphy asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the reason Rockchapel GAA club, County Cork, is being refused an application form to apply for lottery grants. [14124/03]
Written Answers. - Sports Capital Programme.
The sports capital programme, funded by the national lottery and administered by my Department, allocates funds to sporting and community organisations at local, regional and national level. The programme is advertised on an annual basis. The 2003 sports capital programme was advertised in the national newspapers on Sunday, March 23 and Monday, March 24. In addition, the national sports governing bodies were notified about the programme and its schedule, including the fact that the closing date for the receipt of completed application forms was Friday, 25 April 2003. Information on the programme and an on-line application facility were also available on my Department's website. The fact that the programme was open for applications during this period was widely known among the sporting fraternity.
Application forms and guidelines were available to prospective applicants following the public advertisement of the programme and were posted to all names on my Department's mailing list at that time. No club or organisation is ever refused an application form by my Department. In excess of 4,500 applications were issued from my Department and more than 1,300 applications were received by the closing date. No record exists in the Department of an application form having been requested on behalf of the club in question. Applications to the programme cannot be accepted after the closing date. It is the responsibility of a club or organisation to ensure that it receives an application for the programme and that the application is submitted to my Department by the closing date.