Vol. 568 No. 3
64 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the extent to which the various sporting and recreational grants awarded to groups or organisations in County Kildare in the past five years have been drawn down; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16307/03]
65 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the extent to which the various sporting and recreational grants awarded in the past five years have been drawn down; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16308/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 64 and 65 together.
The national lottery-funded sports capital programme, which is administered by my Department, allocates funding to sporting and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country.
A total of 2,903 grants have been allocated under the programme in the five year period 1998-2002, of which 744 had not drawn a payment as at 31 March 2003. A total of 150 grants were allocated to County Kildare in 1998-2002, of which 38 had not drawn down a payment as at 31 March 2003.
Under the guidelines, terms and conditions of the sport capital programme, a "sunset clause" provision exists for a grant to be withdrawn if within 15 months of the date of allocation the grantee is unable to satisfy the Department that it is in the process of drawing down the grant. It is the intention in my Department's follow-up contacts with grantees to ensure that they comply in full with the requirements of the sport capital programme in relation to the timely drawdown of grants awarded.
Under the current local authority swimming pool programme, which is also administered by my Department, the closing date for receipt of applications was July 2000. Up until 1998, the programme was administered by the Department of the Environment and Local Government at which stage it was transferred to the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, now Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism.
Under the programme, grants of up to a maximum of €3.8 million are available towards the refurbishment of existing pools or the provision of a new pool subject, in either case, to the total grant not exceeding 80% of the eligible cost of the project or, in the case of projects located in designated disadvantaged areas, 90% of the eligible cost. Support is available towards the cost of the swimming pool, toddler pool, sauna and steam room.
The local authority in Kildare has applied for funding towards the replacement of swimming pools in Athy and Naas. The preliminary reports have been approved and the contract documents for both projects are under consideration.
The following Table shows the grant allocations and the grants drawn down since 1998:
|
Pool |
Total allocationto swimming poolproject |
Amount drawndown |
|
€ |
€ |
|
|
Ennis |
2,920,398 |
2,920,398 |
|
Galway (Renmore) |
203,158 |
203,158 |
|
Monaghan |
380,921 |
380,921 |
|
Dundalk |
3,809,214 |
3,618,752 |
|
Roscommon |
3,809,214 |
3,618,734 |
|
Courtown/Gorey |
3,809,214 |
3,618,754 |
|
Ballinasloe |
3,809,214 |
2,655,452 |
|
Finglas |
3,809,214 |
2,893,552 |
|
Tralee (Aquadome) |
86,400 |
53,228 |
|
Tralee (Clonalour) |
3,809,214 |
0 |
|
Limerick (Grove Island) |
3,809,214 |
0 |
|
Total |
30,255,375 |
19,962,949 |
