Sports Capital Programme.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 July 2006

Thursday, 6 July 2006

Questions (331, 332, 333, 334)

Finian McGrath

Question:

329 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will support the application from a club (details supplied) in Dublin 3 for lottery funding; and if he will give them the maximum support and advice. [27241/06]

Written answers

Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (Mr. O’Donoghue)

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. 1,338 applications for funding under the 2006 were received by my Department, including one from the organisation in question. All were evaluated against the programme's assessment criteria, which are outlined in the guidelines, terms and conditions of the programme. Following this assessment, the organisation in question was unsuccessful and this decision together with a copy of the assessment conducted on the application, was conveyed by my Department to the organisation in a letter dated 13 June 2006. I intend to advertise the Sports Capital Programme for 2007 later this year and it will be open to the club in question to re-apply if they so wish.

Michael Ring

Question:

330 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if funding will be provided to upgrade the sports hall floor in a school (details supplied) in County Mayo. [27379/06]

Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (Mr. O’Donoghue)

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. On the 6th June last, I announced the grant allocations for the local projects under the 2006 programme and I am pleased to inform you that a grant of €30,000 was allocated to the project in question for the re-surfacing of the hall floor.

Catherine Murphy

Question:

331 Ms C. Murphy asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the non-governmental agencies or organisations his Department has provided funding to in 2004, 2005, and 2006; the amount of funding provided to each in each year; the number of applications for funding submitted to his Department in total; the number of these applications which were refused; the reason for same; the percentage of his Department’s overall annual budget such funding equates to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27384/06]

Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (Mr. O’Donoghue)

My Department is responsible for the administration of three major grant programmes — the Sports Capital Programme, the Arts and Culture Capital Enhancement Scheme (ACCESS) and the Local Authority Swimming Pools Programme. Of these the first two programmes attract a significant number of applications from non-governmental agencies and organisations. All unsuccessful applicants receive a letter of notification from the Department. In addition, my Department makes allocations to projects of strategic importance to non-governmental agencies and organisations in the sports, arts and culture sectors. The following tables contains details of the non-governmental agencies and organisations to which my Department has provided funding from 2004 to date. Details of the bodies that receive allocations under the Sports Capital Programme are available on the Department's website. In relation to grants provided to other major sporting bodies, in 2006 I have made an allocation of €65,000 to the IRFU for completion of works on Lansdowne Road due to fire damage. In 2005 I allocated funding to some of the National Governing Bodies in respect of their equipment requirements, to a range of regional and national projects as well as additional funding to a number of projects previously allocated funding that year, as follows: Pearse Stadium €1.5m; Limerick Gaelic Grounds €1m; Salthill Devon FC €1m; DCC — Irishtown Stadium €930,000; An Ríocht A.C. €625,000; Irish Amateur Boxing Association — National Stadium €500,000; Basketball Ireland €500,000; Markievicz Park, Sligo €400,000; Bunclody AFC €400,000; Tennis Ireland — National Development Centre €330,000; Athletic Association of Ireland €209,278; Ennis Town Council Lees Road Centre €200,000; Duneske Leisure Centre, Cahir €200,000; Football Association of Ireland €150,000; Irish Amateur Rowing Union €125,141; Mayo Association Football League €100,000. An allocation of €85,000 was also made to the FAI in respect of development works at Derry City FC. In 2004, I made allocations of €100,000 towards development at Mosney for the Community Games and of €650,000 to the Olympic Council of Ireland towards the provision of a new headquarters. I also allocated €33,014 as an additional allocation to the NUIG Galway Regional Sports Centre.

Organisation	Amount 2004	Amount 2005	Amount 2006
	€	€	€
Allocations made to Cultural Institutions
The Irish Architectural Archive	600,000	334,000	330,000
Marsh’s Library	300,000	330,000	350,000
The Hunt Museum	270,000	290,000	350,000
Irish Genealogy Ltd.	380,000	395,000	150,000
Foynes Flying Boat Museum	200,000	1,420,000	80,000
Maritime Institute	17,000	24,104	22,000
National Print Museum	75,000	95,000	125,000
Merriman Summer School	Nil	20,000	Nil
University of Ulster	63,000	103,015	123,000
EU (Lund Agreement)	701	Nil	10,000
United Nations (International Centre for the Preservation of Cultural Goods — ICCROM)	11,000	11,630	15,000
Irish College Rome	50,000	100,000	100,000
Irish Museums Association	Nil	10,000	Nil
Axa Dublin International	Nil	Nil	8,000
The Crawford Gallery	Nil	Nil	15,000
Sub-total	1,966,701	3,132,749	1,678,000
Allocations made under ACCESS
The Glen Theatre (Banteer Old School Heritage & Drama Trust)	20,000	Nil	Nil
National Association of Youth Drama	9,533.59	Nil	Nil
Pavee Point Travellers’ Centre	5,915.65	Nil	Nil
Andrew’s Lane Theatre	21,940.15	Nil	Nil
Irish Film Institute	27,000	Nil	Nil
Gleneagle Concert Band	15,000	Nil	Nil
Siamsa Tíre	56,185.46	120,000	Nil
Tech Amergin	1,020,000	Nil	Nil
Tipperary Excel Heritage Co.	Nil	1,560,000	Nil
Irish Chamber Orchestra	Nil	100,000	Nil
Garter Lane Arts Centre	Nil	100,000	Nil
Spraoi	Nil	40,000	Nil
CREATE	Nil	5,968	Nil
Graffiti Theatre Company	Nil	10,000	Nil
Tinteán Theatre	Nil	350,000	Nil
Triskel Arts Centre	Nil	220,000	Nil
Strand Theatre	Nil	250,000	Nil
Caherciveen Arts Centre	Nil	1,600,000	Nil
Bell Table Arts Centre	Nil	320,000	Nil
Dún Mhuire Theatre	Nil	375,000	Nil
Gaiety Theatre	Nil	4,000,000	Nil
Lighthouse Cinema	Nil	Nil	1,000,000
Píobairí Uilleann	Nil	Nil	1,000,000
Sub-total	1,175,575	9,050,968	2,000,000
Other Allocations
Abbey Theatre Centenary	1,000,000	Nil	Nil
Abbey Theatre Emergency Works	278,914	546,327	Nil
Patrick Kavanagh Centenary	Nil	52,000	Nil
Paddy Bushe	Nil	2,500	Nil
Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris	Nil	75,000	Nil
National Association of Deputy Principals	Nil	60,000	Nil
Anna Livia Opera Festival	Nil	250,000	Nil
Seanchaí Kerry Literary & Cultural Centre	Nil	1,000	Nil
Kerry Tenors	Nil	Nil	5089
Cultural Relations Committee	700,000	Nil	Nil
Special Olympics World Summer Games Ltd	1,000,000	Nil	Nil
Sub-total	2,978,914	986,827	5,089
Allocations made under Sports Capital Programme	61,000,000	54,385,000	53,745,200
All Other Grants Provided to Major Sporting Bodies	61,783,014	63,239,419	53,810,200
Total Funding to non-Governmental agencies	128,904,204	130,794,963	111,238,489
Department Vote*	439,471,000	455,779,000	568,186,000
Total Funding to non-Governmental agencies as a % Department Vote	29.3%	28.7%	19.6%

Question No. 332 answered with QuestionNo. 33.

Emmet Stagg

Question:

333 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if there were indicative total grant allocations imposed per county in regard to the sport capital grant allocation 2006; the way he can justify the fact that Kildare only received €8.58 per head of population whilst the national average was €13.72 per head of population. [27401/06]

Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (Mr. O’Donoghue)

The national lottery funded sports capital programme allocates funding to sporting and to voluntary and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. The programme is advertised on an annual basis. All applications received under the programme are assessed on an individual basis by my Department in accordance with a detailed set of assessment criteria as specified in the guidelines, terms and conditions that accompany the application form for the programme. The assessment process takes into account factors such as the existing level of facilities in an area, the number and quality of the applications received, the amount of funding being sought by each applicant and the strategic positioning of major facilities that may be required as well as the most recent Census of Population figures. Every effort is made to achieve a balanced geographical spread of funds throughout the country, while also affording priority to projects in areas of social and economic disadvantage.

In relation to the 2006 sports capital programme, a total of 1,338 applications were received nationally, of which 1,211 were for projects classified as local and 127 as non-local, that is, projects which were categorised as national, regional or municipal and multi-sport. I recently announced provisional grant allocations under the 2006 Programme in relation to the local applications totalling €53.745 million to 719 projects and I will be announcing the provisional allocations for the non-local projects in the near future, for which five applications were received from Kildare. Of twenty-eight applications from County Kildare for local projects this year, seventeen were provisionally allocated funding totalling €1.41 million. My Department has written to the remaining eleven applicants enclosing a copy of their assessment and explaining why they were unsuccessful on this occasion, in order to assist with any future applications which they might submit. Ten of these applicants failed to meet basic minimum qualifying conditions as outlined on the application form and the guidelines, terms and conditions of the Programme.

There was a significant reduction in the number of applications from Kildare this year, which was down 25% on the number in each of three previous years, 2003, 2004 and 2005. The Deputy will appreciate that the Programme can only respond to the applications received from any particular county in any particular year. A reduced number of applications, taken with the quality of those applications and the scale of the projects which apply, affects the overall level of funding allocated to a county. Nevertheless, I should point out to the Deputy that sports capital funding to County Kildare amounts to €59 per capita since 2003 and the national average over that time is €60 per capita. Indeed, since 1998 a total of over €23.4 million in sports capital funding has been allocated to County Kildare. This means that the county, currently with 4.19% of the population, has been allocated 5.22% of the total national funding since 1998. I am satisfied that County Kildare has been treated more than fairly in the administration of the Sports Capital Programme and I believe that the Deputy will agree with me that the funding provided has made a major difference to the range and quality of the sports facilities available throughout the county.