Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 Mar 2001

Vol. 165 No. 12

Sports Capital Programme.

Mr. Caffrey

I am grateful that this matter is being taken on the Adjournment. I welcome the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Deputy McDaid, and I thank him for coming in to respond personally to the question.

The sports complex in Ballina has the been in gestation for 11 years. The need for such a complex was first identified due to the existence in Ballina of a very successful basketball team. It has achieved national awards on many occasion and competed at the highest level here and internationally. There were no basketball facilities and when major matches were on hand the team would have to go to Killala, a small town eight miles away. A hard working committee set about trying to put a sports complex in place. This was to be situated beside Moyne College, previously a vocational school, now a third level college. This college has no physical education facilities and there is an agreement with the committee that they will be tenants of the complex.

Unfortunately, even with the grant of £400,000 which the Minister's Department allocated some time ago, of which £380,000 has been drawn down, the project is unfinished due to serious overruns as a result of this matter going on for 11 years. This is one of those things that happen in a building project of this magnitude and is no fault of the committee. It is regrettable that the project has closed due to lack of funding. The contractor left the site last November or early December and to get a contractor back again requires a penalty clause. In the region of £400,000 is required to complete this very necessary and worthwhile sports complex which will be the only one of its kind in Ballina and the surrounding area.

An application has been made under the sports capital programme for funding but due to the urgency of the situation it is imperative that this project is considered favourably. Whether the Minister can expedite the decisions on the programme I do not know, but I urge him to consider this matter seriously.

It is very hard for people in Ballina to reconcile the fact that the Minister said on television recently that he could not spend £6 million under this programme with the fact that the project is being held up because of a lack of funding. That is the situation on the project which provides for very necessary and essential social infrastructure in Ballina in which there are three secondary schools, none of which has PE facilities. As PE will figure on the syllabus, it is very important that facilities are provided. I thank the Cathaoirleach for affording me the opportunity to make the case for this very worthwhile project.

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

I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to outline the history of grant aid towards this project and to clarify the current position on the 2001 sports capital programme. I am aware of the project both from parliamentary questions in recent weeks and months and representations I have received from my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Moffatt.

Funding was first allocated to this project way back in 1988 when £300,000, a very considerable sum at the time, was allocated under what was then known as the major facilities scheme administered by the Department of Education and Science. There was no progress on the project, however, and in October 1992 the grant had to be withdrawn. The group was advised to draw up specific proposals for the project, to raise more funds locally and to then reapply.

The grant was restored under the 1994 major facilities scheme and increased to £400,000. One of the requirements of the scheme was that at least 30% of the project cost had to be raised by the applicants before the project could proceed. Because of their difficulties in meeting this requirement, the organisers were not in a position to invite tenders for construction until October 1998 and were subsequently not in a position to receive the first payment of the grant allocation until November 2000.

Some 95%, or £380,000, of the £400,000 grant has now been drawn down. Under the terms and conditions of the programme, 5% of a total grant allocation is retained pending confirmation from the organisation's technical supervisor that work on the project has been completed satisfactorily. Once this confirmation is received, the remaining £20,000 will be paid.

An application for funding has been received from Ballina Sports Conference and Leisure Centre under the 2001 sports capital programme. This application will be evaluated, as will all of the 1,450 applications received, in accordance with the assessment criteria outlined in the guidelines, terms and conditions of the programme. I intend to announce the grant allocations at the earliest possible date following completion of the assessment process.

I cannot expedite any of the applications until they have been thoroughly gone through. I will do this as soon as possible. As a word of explanation to those who do not understand the reason funds are handed back, as with this complex, the projects in question have not been completed and the money is literally tied up. Despite the voluntary efforts being made, I am assured that all the funds will be drawn down and that work will commence in two to three weeks, or certainly within two to three months, and that if funds are provided, they will be drawn down before the end of the year.

The greater the number of projects in the Department the greater the number of projects that will not be completed. I intend to provide more funds this year, but I am aware that come the end of next year, a large proportion will remain unspent. We must realise that there are not enough developers and contractors available to use up the money the Government has provided. It has nothing to do with the voluntary efforts being made, but with the fact that contractors cannot be employed. Contractors are off making their fortunes elsewhere. One cannot blame them for this. I want to have the projects completed. While Ballina is receiving priority, there is no point in funding something that has been barricaded. Every effort will be made to complete the project as soon as possible.

The Seanad adjourned at 8.50 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 8 March 2001.