Vol. 440 No. 1
173 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Education if an application for lottery funding has been received from a club (details supplied) in County Tipperary; when a decision will be made on this application; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
An application has been received under my Department's recreational facilities scheme from the organisation in question. All applications received under the scheme by the closing date of 4 March 1994 are presently under consideration by my Department. A decision in the matter will be made as soon as possible.
174 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education the proportion of the surplus from the national lottery which is currently devoted to sporting activities; the projected value of this in 1994; and the proposals she has to increase this proportion in order that proposals to enhance Ireland's attraction as a location for major sporting events could be developed.
The total allocation to my Department in respect of sporting activities in 1994 is £17.275 million, which represents 19.58 per cent of the surplus from the national lottery.
An additional £3 million from Exchequer funds was also allocated in the recent budget to the recreational facilities scheme. This brings the total funding for sport to £10.275 million this year.
Funding for sport is aimed at promoting and developing sport and physical education through assisting the national governing bodies of sport in their activities at all levels and through the provision of sports facilities throughout the country.
Special grants are available to sporting organisations towards the staging of international events held in Ireland. Significant progress has been made in the provision of sports facilities in Ireland. Examples of this include the development of major regional indoor and outdoor centres in Waterford, Galway, Sligo, Nenagh and Limerick; the development of Morton Stadium as the National Athletics facility, the national basketball arena in Tallaght, the badminton centre in Baldoyle and the new hockey facility in Belfield, which is currently under construction.
The development of high standard indoor and outdoor sports facilities, for use by Irish sportspeople and for the staging of national and international events, is a key elements in the Government's policy for sport. The success of the policy of providing this infrastructure can be seen from the number of major international events to be held in Ireland this year. These include the ladies' hockey world cup, the world handball championships, European youth soccer finals, European promotions basketball cup and the international boxing challenge. The men's European hockey cup is due to be staged in UCD, Belfield in 1995.
My Department is currently in discussion with a number of sporting organisations with a view to attracting other major sporting events to Ireland in the years to come.
