Vol. 698 No. 5
6 Deputy Frank Feighan asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he has received representations regarding the value of sports disability officers; if he supports a specific policy of inclusion in sport of persons with a disability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47603/09]
17 Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his plans to assist sports inclusion disability officers here in view of the work that they carry out in communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47027/09]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 17 together.
Special funding of €2.5 million was allocated from the dormant accounts fund for the appointment of 20 sports inclusion development officers, SIDOs, in local sports partnerships, LSPs, in 2008. The SIDOs were appointed on two-year contracts to provide opportunities for persons with a disability to participate in sport and physical activity. A network of 33 LSPs have been set up throughout the country by the Irish Sports Council, ISC, to co-ordinate and promote sport at local level, particularly among specific target groups, such as older people, girls and women, people with disabilities, unemployed people and those who live in identified disadvantaged communities. The special dormant accounts funding was in addition to the annual funding provided to the LSPs by the ISC for programmes and initiatives aimed at increasing participation in recreational sport. The ISC has allocated €6 million to the LSPs in 2009. I have received representations on funding under this programme.
The continued funding of the sports inclusion disability officer scheme is a matter for the Irish Sports Council in the context of the distribution of its budget for 2010, supplemented by a provision of €395,000 in the Vote of the Department, and the council's priorities within its ongoing funding of the local sports partnership network. The priority is to build on the significant progress by the council in achieving its statutory objectives of increasing participation in recreational sport and improving high performance levels.
I am not sure what that response was telling me. As the Minister knows, the sports inclusion disability officers work through the local sports partnerships. The dormant account funding from last year amounted to €1.3 million while it is €300,000 this year. Clearly, there is significant shortfall of €1 million.
Approximately 5,000 people were able to participate in sport for the first time through the partnerships on foot of the work of the sports inclusion disability officers. The latter were doing outstanding work. People who were very isolated were afforded an opportunity to participate in sport. From health and social perspectives, such people probably benefit more from participation in sport than the able-bodied. It was wonderful to be able to expose them to sport for the first time. To withdraw the programme would be a real tragedy.
Will the €1 million be made up by the Irish Sports Council or the Department? Will it be made up in full?
The Irish Sports Council has an allocation and must make choices. I happen to agree with the Deputy and have made my views clear to the council that the programme needs to be continued. I cannot speak for the council but I understand it is minded in that direction. It must consider the total budget and determine where savings can be made in other areas so the resources can be allocated.
The work of the local sports partnerships is outstanding. I fought for the budget and kept it largely in place to maintain in the coming years the programmes on the ground, bearing in mind the employment created and the services offered to those in all the relevant sectors, including the disadvantaged, women's groups and the disabled. I am reasonably confident that will be the outcome in 2010.
The problem is that the magic fund of the Irish Sports Council is getting smaller by the minute. In 2008, it had €57 million and now its allocation is €49 million, representing a decrease of 13%. Out of its allocation, it must fund all the sports, including those under the remit of the sports inclusion disability officers. How far can the fund stretch without seriously damaging the work of the officers? Everybody agrees they have had a great impact and have been very inclusive. They have given people who might never have been able to participate in sport the opportunity to do so, not to mention the fact they have created employment.
While it is all very fine to say the Irish Sports Council has responsibility and that it is up to it to decide how to distribute its funds, it will not have sufficient funding. Somebody will have to suffer seriously. There is approximately €400,000 secured for the sports inclusion disability officer programme. A grant can be applied for, to a maximum of €25,000, which sum must be dedicated to salaries. I do not know where the money is coming from.
We are now in different times but one advantage of this is that we are achieving far better value for the money we are spending. We can almost realise the same value as we did some years ago, although the budgets have decreased somewhat in recent years.
We want to maintain as much activity as we can. I have gone about this in the correct way. There were choices to be made on some of the programmes the Deputies raised, which I cannot fund at present as much as I would like to do so. My sole objective is to ensure that there are as many people as possible participating in sport at all levels. I believe the inclusion programme about which the Deputies spoke will be in place in 2010.
My information is that the sports partnerships have been told already that they will receive €20,000. They received €60,000 under the previous scheme. One would not have to be a rocket scientist to realise the programme will be cut back drastically if funding does not come from somewhere else. Will the Minister commit to ensuring that the disabled and disability officers will not be subject to cutbacks of the kind my information suggests will occur?
I am not trying to hide behind anything in saying the Irish Sports Council is independent of political interference; it is as simple as that. I can make my views clear——
There is a special issue here.
I am not disagreeing with the Deputy. I have been more than forthcoming and the Deputies present know that. I want to see the programme maintained in 2010 and my understanding and position is that it will be.
I am pleased to hear the council is of a mind to maintain the programme. I am often of a mind to do things myself but do not have the purse to do them.
I must use careful language.
I understand.
The Deputy is around long enough and knows what I am trying to say.
Will the Minister undertake to track what actually happens? We will not hear from people with disabilities. They will disappear behind their doors and become invisible. We will not know whether they will have access to what they had access to last year. Will the Minister ensure that the Irish Sports Council provides the money?
People with disabilities have already been hit in the budget and I sincerely hope they will not become the target again due to the loss of funding for their sports inclusion officers. These officers are so important in giving the disabled an opportunity they might never have otherwise. The funding should be found wherever it can be found. Responsibility should not rest entirely with the Irish Sports Council.
In defence of my Department, it must be stated lest it be forgotten that I am not making any reduction. The money was coming from a different Department altogether, granted that I am facing the pass regarding what has arisen. With regard to my funding and programmes, nothing has been done to undermine the programme in question. I am trying, in spite of resourcing difficulties, to sustain the programme. I will be tracking it. I am sure Deputy Mitchell will have a question tabled in the coming months on how exactly it is working. The money was very well spent and the programme has had a great impact. Without the programme, the quality of life of the participants would be much lower.
7 Deputy Noel J. Coonan asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the legislative status of the horse and greyhound racing fund; the implications a reduction in funding will have on the industry in 2010; his plans for an alternative system of financing this sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47584/09]
10 Deputy Michael D. Higgins asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the Exchequer contribution to the Horse and Greyhound Fund in 2008, 2009 and that projected for 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47400/09]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 10 together.
Government support for the horse and greyhound racing industries is provided under the horse and greyhound racing fund, which was established under section 12 of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001. Section 12(6) of the Act specifies that, of the moneys paid into the fund each year, 80% shall be paid to Horse Racing Ireland and 20% shall be paid to Bord na gCon.
In 2004, and earlier in 2009, the Government put in place regulations to increase the limit of the fund. By the end of 2009, a total of €613.9 million will have been paid out of the fund. In 2008, €76.3 million was allocated to the fund. Of this, €36.4 million was derived from excise duty on off-course betting, with €39.9 million provided by the Exchequer. In 2009, of the €68.1 million allocated to the fund, €36.6 million was derived from betting duty, with €31.5 million provided directly by the Exchequer. Some €59.3 million has been allocated to the horse and greyhound racing fund for 2010. There are no projections available for excise duty on off-course betting for that period.
Funding of both Horse Racing Ireland and Bord na gCon supports two very important productive industries and helps to sustain the important role of horse and greyhound breeding and training enterprises in the development of the rural economy. These industries, together, account for an estimated 27,500 direct jobs, generate very substantial economic activity and make a vital contribution to the rural economy, including farm incomes.
The funding given to the greyhound racing sector helps in sustaining a tradition that has existed for hundreds of years and in underpinning the economic activity in what are, in many instances, less affluent regions of the country. The funding has also contributed significantly to the almost €90 million that has been invested in the improved facilities now available at greyhound tracks around Ireland. The funding has allowed Horse Racing Ireland to undertake a capital investment programme that has underpinned growth in the sector. The funding has allowed Ireland to develop into a world centre of excellence for horse racing.
The Deputy will be aware that a review of the horse and greyhound racing fund has been completed this year. In that context, a report on the horse and greyhound racing fund by FGS Consulting has been produced.
The report states that, while not all aspects of the total contribution of the sector can be definitively quantified, adequate direct and indirect evidence supports a strong argument that the horse and greyhound racing industries constitute a major source of direct and indirect employment, give rise to considerable domestic and export earnings and are a key driver of substantial economic activity, especially in rural areas. On this basis, the report argues there is a strong underpinning for the original objectives of the fund in providing Exchequer support to promote and enhance these indigenous industries based on their potential to yield a substantial economic return.
The report maintains any sharp withdrawal or curtailment of funding in the short term would likely have major detrimental impacts on the industries involved, with the consequent risk of undoing much of what has been achieved since the fund came into existence in 2001. At least in the medium term, these industries need secure State support. If this were not available, employment would fall, infrastructural development would not take place, the product would deteriorate, integrity would become compromised and the industries would be seriously undermined.
Some €59.3 million has been allocated to the fund for 2010. This substantial funding will build on the almost €614 million already invested in the industries since 2001. I intend to work closely with Horse Racing Ireland and Bord na gCon to ensure that these important industries continue to contribute to the economy. To give effect to this Estimates allocation, it is necessary under the relevant provisions of the Horse and Greyhound Act 2001 to have the increase in the horse and greyhound fund specified by regulation. The process commenced earlier this week with the laying of the draft regulations before the Houses. The appropriate offices of the Dáil and Seanad have been contacted to request the resolution be placed on their respective Order Papers.
I hope to appear before the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in January with a view to making the regulations shortly thereafter so that the 2010 funding to Horse Racing Ireland and Bord na gCon can be paid out.
No Member will disagree this valuable industry must be supported. It provides not just 28,000 jobs but the unquantifiable benefit that it internationally showcases Ireland. I am concerned, however, as are those involved in the industry, as to how it will be funded. Many times the Minister has claimed he is examining new ways of funding. I note in his Department's submission on the cuts proposed by an bord snip nua that great savings would be made in the new scheme for the horse and greyhound fund. How are these savings to be effected? What new taxation scheme will be introduced? Has any progress been made in devising a new scheme to capture Internet betting. Will new legislation be introduced for a new horse and greyhound fund?
I will be presenting my proposals on that in January to the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
There are several elephants in the room that were not mentioned at all, one of which is betting tax. The Minister indicated there is no figure potentially available for the coming year for betting tax. The Irish Bookmakers Association predicts it could be €30 million, leaving a shortfall of €30 million from direct Exchequer funding. This shortfall will be made up from funding for other sporting organisations and the Department's general Vote.
All Members are supportive of the horse and greyhound racing industries and recognise they are hugely important to the economy, particularly in rural areas. The point is where the funding for the industry comes from and how it is put in place to ensure the industry can be sustained without taking it from direct Exchequer funding, as was intended originally until the change in the 2001 to the rules.
I had to fight very hard to get the amount for this fund. Everyone accepts the Exchequer cannot continue to put the resources that it has already. We all accept it is not just a sport, but a hugely important and significant industry. The Minister for Finance is directly involved in examining the taxation issues surrounding the industry, which I welcome.
I am deeply frustrated with the general across-the-board support from the industry. I have spoken to all the players and everyone blames everybody else. That is no longer going to cut any ice. We are seeing an industry that has boomed over the past several years with large amounts of money being bet on telephone and the Internet outside of the country. I believe that so much resources are being spent on the industry that a small percentage from it would more than adequately assist the horse and greyhound fund. I hope this will be resolved because the Exchequer will not continue to add to the fund in the future.
That concludes questions for today and for this Dáil session. I wish all my colleagues present in the House a peaceful and happy Christmas.
I wish the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, the Ceann Comhairle, the staff and all my colleagues on the Front Bench of Fine Gael and Labour and their families a peaceful and happy Christmas. We have had a good year working together and I am sure we will again next year.
What about us backbenchers?
I meant everyone on all sides of the House, back, front, no matter where.
I too would like to be associated with those good wishes. I would like to wish everyone and all their families a happy Christmas.
I wish everyone a very happy Christmas.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
