Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 April 2012
1356 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health the reason an association (details supplied) in County Westmeath which provides a sporting activity for elderly persons has been refused grant aid under his allocation of national lottery funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18957/12]
View answerMy Department administers a National Lottery Discretionary Fund from which once-off grants are paid to community and voluntary organisations, providing a range of health related services. An application for funding from the 2012 Lottery allocation was received in February from the organisation in question. The application was reviewed by my Department and a decision was made that it did not meet with the Department's National Lottery criteria.
The Deputy will be aware that funding from National Lottery proceeds are also allocated to other Departments for a range of projects including youth, sport, recreation and amenities, culture and heritage and the Irish language. In this regard, I understand that the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport is presently seeking applications for its 2012 Sports Capital Programme to which the organisation may wish to consider submitting an application.
