Vol. 495 No. 1
232 Mr. Stanton. asked the Minister for Finance the amount of national lottery funding allocated by month to each Department in the past 12 months; the amount of money each Department has granted to various bodies and institutions; the categories or schemes by which such money was dispensed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19418/98]
Allocations of national lottery funding are decided by the Government as part of the annual Estimates process. The 1998 allocations, amounting to a total of more than £120 million, are summarised in an appendix to the Revised Estimates for Public Services. The allocations are in accordance with section 5 of the National Lottery Act, 1986 which sets out the categories for which lottery funding may be provided, namely sport and other recreation, national culture (including the Irish language), the arts and the health of the community. Additional purposes approved by Government under the 1986 Act include youth, welfare, national heritage and amenities.
While I as Minister for Finance have overall responsibility for the operation of the national lottery, once the lottery allocations have been approved by Government the responsibility for the disbursement of grants rests with the relevant spending Minister.
Lottery funded expenditure is administered by a number of Departments and related agencies and covers a wide range of programmes and schemes. Details of lottery funded expenditure for 1997 are contained in volume 2 of the 1997 appropriation accounts, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library. There is also the "Compendium of National Lottery Grants", which is published by the Department of Finance and brings together in one volume details of all lottery spending. The last compendium covered the years 1995 to 1996. This document provides very detailed information and gives a comprehensive picture of the allocation of lottery funds. Similar information for 1997, based on the appropriation accounts for that year, will be published in the coming months.
In relation to schemes administered by my Department, the monthly funding for the past 12 months are as follows:
Gaeleagras na Seirbhise Poibli
|
£ |
|
|
October 1997 |
1,459.16 |
|
November 1997 |
29,955.74 |
|
December 1997 |
24,046.09 |
|
January 1998 |
9,508.39 |
|
February 1998 |
776.40 |
|
March 1998 |
12,779.63 |
|
April 1998 |
7,752.58 |
|
May 1998 |
3,384.13 |
|
June 1998 |
8,783.12 |
|
July 1998 |
19,740.00 |
|
August 1998 |
18,099.30 |
|
September 1998 |
870.61 |
