Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2015
414. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount of funds available to his Department in 2014 and allocated for 2015, to grant aid sports clubs based outside Ireland. [6913/15]
View answer415. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if advertisements were placed inviting sporting clubs based outside Ireland to apply for grant aid for the development of their sporting facilities; if he will confirm where these advertisements were placed; the number of applications received; the criteria used to adjudicate on these applications; the total number of successful applicants; and the total amount of money allocated. [6914/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 414 and 415 together.
The Emigrant Support Programme (ESP), which is administered by my Department, provides funding to not-for-profit organisations and projects to support Irish communities overseas. The focus of the Emigrant Support Programme is on initiatives that address the needs of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable Irish emigrants; enhance access for Irish emigrants and Irish community organisations to local statutory and voluntary services; foster a more vibrant sense of community and Irish identity amongst the Irish abroad; and encourage closer links between Irish communities abroad and Ireland, to the benefit of both.
In 2014 the budget for the ESP was €11,595,000. Some applications for funding from sporting clubs and organisations are received under the Capital and Heritage headings. All funding applications are made through an online process on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.
In advance of the 2014 grant round, advertisements were placed in a number of Irish community newspapers abroad, in the UK, Australia and Canada. In the United States, our Embassy in Washington DC and network of Consulates, as well as the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centres, were used to promote awareness of the grant round. Social media and other means were also used by our Embassies and Consulates to advertise the opening of the grant round.
Fourteen applications were received during the 2014 ESP grant round in respect of sporting clubs/organisations based outside Ireland. The 2015 grant round is currently open so details for 2015 are unavailable as yet. The overall ESP budget for 2015 remains at €11,595,000.
The following is the breakdown of funding allocated in 2014:
|
Organisation |
Application |
Amount |
|
Football Association of Ireland |
UK Welfare Officer Programme |
€42,844 |
|
Gaelic Athletic Association |
Overseas Games Development- Britain |
€225,000 |
|
- |
Overseas Games Development – North America County Board |
€44,000 |
|
- |
Overseas Games Development – New York Board |
€37,000 |
|
- |
Global Games Development |
€65,000 |
|
- |
Shannon Gaels GAA Club, Frank Golden Park, Queens, New York towards the development of the Underage Playing Field |
€250,000 |
|
London Irish Amateur Rugby Football Club |
Annual Mini Rugby Festival |
Stg £7,200 |
|
Milton Keynes Irish Centre |
Irish Centre Football Pitch Development |
Stg £20,000 |
|
- |
Total |
€698,124 |
Grant applications are evaluated in line with established criteria for the ESP. Full details are available on my Department's website (www.dfat.ie)
A funding arrangement with the GAA has been in place, on a partnership basis, since 2007 and facilitates ESP support for the GAA's Community Development Administrators in the US and Britain. A Global Games Development Fund was established in 2012, on a matched funding basis with the GAA, to support GAA projects abroad, outside of Britain and the US, which deliver and promote meaningful developmental games opportunities and which also further the aims and objectives of the ESP. An open call for the Global Games Fund is made through the GAA's international structures.
