Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 November 2013
12. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will discuss the 7% reduction to the budget of the Irish Sports Council; his views on what effect this will have on the delivery of front-line services by national governing sports bodies and on the high performance programme. [47113/13]
View answerThe difficult economic situation is having an impact on public spending across all sectors of society and spending on sport is no different. The cut in the budget for the Irish Sports Council for 2014 currently stands at €3m. It is hoped that we will be able to alleviate that somewhat through adjustments in the Department's Vote but we will have to see the details of the Council's proposals before doing so. Given the very limited resources available, we need to be satisfied that any funding that can be reallocated from other uses will deliver a very substantial additional benefit for sport.
I would point out to the Deputy that the total Sports budget will go up from €74.6m to €93.5m, which is a substantial increase of over 25%. This increase will enable us to launch another round of the Sports Capital Programme and commence work on the long outstanding Indoor Arena at the National Sports Campus. This is welcome news for community sports clubs across the country and will increase participation in sport. Clubs will be able to apply for essential works like new changing rooms, pitches, lighting and other projects for the second time since this Government took office. It will also mean that we will be able to fund regional projects as happened with the last Programme.
This increased funding for sport comes at a time when there are many calls on limited Government resources and demonstrates the Government's commitment to sport and its understanding of its value both to the economy and the health of the nation.
