I propose to take Questions Nos. 152, 162 and 171 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. The programme is advertised on an annual basis.
The 2004 sports capital programme was advertised in the national newspapers on 30 November and 1 December 2003. The closing date for receipt of applications was 16 January 2004. A total of 1,304 applications were received before the closing date. The number of applications on a county basis were as follows:
|
Number
|
Carlow
|
16
|
Cavan
|
25
|
Clare
|
25
|
Cork
|
128
|
Donegal
|
62
|
Dublin
|
252
|
Galway
|
73
|
Kerry
|
90
|
Kildare
|
44
|
Kilkenny
|
25
|
Laois
|
25
|
Leitrim
|
27
|
Limerick
|
45
|
Longford
|
29
|
Louth
|
37
|
Mayo
|
50
|
Meath
|
32
|
Monaghan
|
26
|
Offaly
|
29
|
Roscommon
|
35
|
Sligo
|
30
|
Tipperary
|
54
|
Waterford
|
41
|
Westmeath
|
30
|
Wexford
|
41
|
Wicklow
|
33
|
These applications are currently being evaluated against the programme's assessment criteria, which are outlined in the guidelines, terms and conditions of the programme which accompanied the application form.
The level of provisional grant allocations to be made under the 2004 programme will be decided having regard to the quality of the applications received this year and the pattern of grant allocations and drawdowns on foot of earlier years' approvals. I will then announce the grant allocations for the 2004 programme as soon as possible after the assessment process has been completed.
The announcement of the amounts of the provisional allocations were made in previous years through the media and on the Department's website and I intend to pursue this course again this year. In addition, the provisional grantees must be informed as soon as possible of my Department's requirements in proceeding to draw down their funding while unsuccessful applicants must be informed of the reasons for not being successful on this occasion. In previous years this was done by letter and it is hoped to do so again this year.
In the event of the usual means of communicating the results of this year's programme being affected by a continuation of the current postal dispute, my Department will consider alternative means of such communication, such as telephone and fax and electronic means such as email and my Department's website.