Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 June 2014
4. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is satisfied that the distribution of taxpayers' money under the sports capital programme is carried out in a transparent manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27419/14]
View answerThe current round of sports capital funding is currently being discussed and distributed by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. Is the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport satisfied that the money is being disbursed in an upfront and transparent way, without any political influence?
I was delighted to be able to launch the 2014 round of the sports capital programme earlier this year, through which €40 million is available for allocation. The 2,036 applications received under the 2014 programme are currently being assessed by officials in my Department. Every application will be assessed by one official and reviewed by another. Given the number of applications received and the detail contained therein, this process takes a number of months to complete. I hope to announce allocations in the next number of weeks.
Applications are first checked to ensure eligibility. All eligible applications are initially assessed against the following five criteria: the likelihood of increasing participation and improving performance and sharing of facilities; the level of socioeconomic disadvantage in the area; technical merits of the project; the level of own funding available; and the level of sports capital programme funding received in the past. These criteria are designed to give higher scores to applications which increase participation, share facilities, are from designated disadvantaged areas, have not received substantial funding in the past or are ready to be progressed at the earliest opportunity.
In deciding the final allocations within each county, the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, and I may have regard to other criteria, such as the need to ensure a fair distribution across different sports and between rural and urban areas. I assure Deputy Dooley that I am satisfied the allocation process is fair and transparent.
I am pleased to hear that the Minister of State has confidence in his own abilities, although it does not surprise me. On the previous occasion we discussed this issue the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, explained that the system of administration has changed since the Minister of State took office. Scoring and validation continue to be carried out by officials of the Department but the allocation of moneys has been transferred to the Minister of State, who will decide in consultation with his advisers who gets what. I am concerned that the system lacks accountability and transparency.
We also previously discussed the staffing of the Department. The Minister alluded to the fact that the Minister of State has a special adviser who is not being paid. Apparently he has offered his services free of charge. That is noteworthy. Does this individual have access to departmental files and has he signed a contract of employment, even if he does not get paid? Is he subject to the Official Secrets Acts? I ask the Minister of State to clarify the context in which he has benefited from the free services provided by a private individual.
Fianna Fáil Members will find it difficult to understand why somebody would act for nothing because Fianna Fáil never did anything for nothing. They had plenty of their own advisers who cost a lot of money. When we came into government we were not lucky enough to be able to provide junior Ministers with advisers. I am honoured to have a man of the quality of Mr. Paul McGrath to assist me in the Department as my programme manager. It is great that somebody in this country is prepared to give State service for nothing and I compliment him on that. He is not on a State board and he does not get paid from a State board. He does not get paid for this job. He gives up his own time to assist me when I want him. I thank him for his work and commitment.
In 2007, when Deputy Dooley's party was in government, the then Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism set the criteria and officials submitted the eligible applications. I will outline some of the figures, as follows: Glebe Sport Holdings in Letterkenny was allocated €250,000 - invalid; Baltinglass GAA club, €50,000 - invalid; Kilmanamagh Family Recreation Centre, €175,000 - invalid; St. Mary's GAA club in Cahersiveen, County Kerry - Deputy Dooley knows who was Minister at the time - €300,000 - invalid; Farranfore Maine Valley AC, County Kerry, allocated €5,000 - insufficient own funding, invalid.
In regard to pro rata rates, I do not know where the Deputy was when he was in government. At the time his county was receiving €114 per capita. When the Kerry Minister was in power, Donegal received €183 per capita and Wicklow was getting €102. During this round and the previous round, I increased funding to County Clare after strong representation from the Deputy's two colleagues in the county. I have increased the allocation to counties that previously did badly. Deputy Dooley's county is going to gain substantially from this. I am happy with the way the sports capital programme has been managed.
We will return to the Minister of State. We have to watch the clock because supplementary questions and replies are allowed one minute each.
I am pleased that the Minister of State answered the question in that way because he fell into the classic trap. I asked a simple question and rather than answer it he responded with the usual bluster about what Fianna Fáil did. I am not standing over the practices followed by previous Governments.
I am glad to hear that.
Of course, people had a right to do what they did back then but the position has since changed significantly. I asked the Minister of State straight questions about the people who advise him. Is the individual in question subject to the Official Secrets Acts? Does he have unfettered access to departmental files? Has he signed a contract of employment with the Minister of State or with the State, even if he is providing his services free of charge?
The Minister of State indicated that on the basis of political representation from two individuals in a constituency, he decided to change tack and increase the level of money to be disbursed. I would have thought that creates a rather chilling response among the many people who believe these funds should be disbursed in a fair and equitable manner, based on established criteria. The Minister of State is suggesting that if two individuals jostle him around a bit he will throw more money at them. That blows the whole thing open. He has been very revealing, and I thank him for that.
The Deputy is not bad himself at making representations. He has seven or eight here.
Absolutely.
What do I do now? Should I not allocate money to the groups on behalf of which the Deputy made representations? Is that what he is saying? Before the recent elections he and his party sent election candidates to the officials in the Department. Does he think that is okay? Does he think it is okay for Fianna Fáil to do whatever it wants?
I am asking the questions.
I am very proud of the last round of the sports capital programme. It was the only time the media, the Deputy’s party and everybody else could find no fault with it because we allocated it on a per capita basis. Every county received what it was entitled to get. I picked the lowest counties and gave them an increase and I will do the same again because members of previous Governments allocated money to their own counties. I did not do this. My county, Mayo, received what it was entitled to get pro rata. I can stand over every decision I made in the last round of the programme.
Will the Minister of State answer the question?
Will the Deputy withdraw his representations?
No. The Minister of State should answer the question.
Therefore, there are representations.
