Written Answers. - Sports Funding.
Ceist:
31
Mr. Coveney
asked the
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation
the reason State funding was not given for the seven Irish athletes who had qualified to compete in and participated in the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games, in contrast with the provision of State funding for athletes who had qualified to compete at the Sydney Summer Olympic Games
[8163/02]
Jimmy Deenihan
Ceist:
32
Mr. Deenihan
asked the
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation
the reason no grants were allowed in respect of the seven Irish athletes who had qualified to compete in the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games while grants were given in respect of athletes who had qualified to compete at the Sydney Summer Olympic Games; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[8156/02]
Louis J. Belton
Ceist:
45
Mr. Belton
asked the
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation
the reason seven Irish athletes participated in the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games without Government aid while the athletes who had qualified to compete at the Sydney Summer Olympic Games were in receipt of Government funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[8162/02]
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation (Dr. McDaid): I propose to take Questions Nos. 31, 32 and 45 together.
I refute any suggestions of discrimination by the Irish Sports Council, ISC or that "democratic principles were not followed in a fair manner". The council is a statutory body and, therefore, is fully accountable for all its actions. It is required by section 8 of the Irish Sports Council Act, l999, to establish criteria, terms and conditions relating to the provision of assistance.
I have been informed by the council that all funding whether to national governing bodies, NGBs, or to athletes, is provided only where the NGB has already been recognised by the council. In this respect, the council published criteria for the recognition of national governing bodies of sport in April 2001. At this time all non-recognised NGBs who had been in contact with the council were given the opportunity to apply for recognition, including five winter sports bodies; the Irish Bobsleigh Association, the Dublin Ice Skating Club, the Irish Ice Hockey Association, the Irish Curling Association and the Ski Association of Ireland. No applications have been received from any of these organisations to date. In November 2001, the council wrote again to the Irish Bobsleigh Association, the Irish Ice Hockey Association and the Ski Association of Ireland asking if they wished to meet with the ISC to discuss recognition criteria and the status of their organisation. Only the Ice Hockey Association has responded to date and a meeting was held with this organisation on 20 February 2002.
Given that none of the winter sport organisations has been recognised for ISC funding purposes to date, this means that the council also has no mechanism through which to support the individual athletes, as funding under the carding scheme is made available on the basis of agreed criteria with recognised NGBs. In any event, no applications were received from individual winter sports organisations or individual winter sports athletes for funding to prepare for or to participate in the Salt Lake City Games.
The council also informed me that the Olympic Council of Ireland, OCI, requested funding totalling approximately €78,700 for pre-Olympic training and the medical programme for the 2002 Winter Games as part of its grant application in January 2000. The council requested the OCI to submit more detailed information regarding its preparation programme, the qualification process and the number of athletes involved. No correspondence was received from the OCI on this issue for the remainder of 2000.
The Olympic Council of Ireland submitted its 2001 grant application to the Irish Sports Council in July 2001 but did not apply for funding in respect of any aspect of the Salt Lake City Winter Games. In September 2001, the issue of funding was raised at a meeting between the OCI and the council in connection with bobsleigh and skiing teams preparing for the Winter Games in 2002. However, as none of the winter sports organisations had applied for recognition, no funding could be provided without first gaining recognition.
The ISC has informed me that it has suggested on a number of occasions to the winter sports to come together to form a winter sports federation to act as a representative body for all the different disciplines. The council is not aware of any progress in this regard.
