Vol. 561 No. 4
330 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism when he intends to commence the national audits on sports facilities to determine areas of greatest need; if this audit will determine the successful applicants from the national lottery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4271/03]
The programme for Government includes a commitment to complete a national audit of local sports facilities and to put in place a long-term strategic plan to ensure the development of such necessary facilities throughout the country. The first stage of the process will be a review of the existing sports capital programme under the Department's expenditure review programme, the results of which will feed into the formulation of a long-term strategy for the development of sporting facilities by an inter-agency steering group to be set up in the near future.
One of the first tasks of this inter-agency steering group will be to oversee the national audit of local sports facilities. This will entail establishing the parameters of such an audit in relation to the standard, size and type of facilities to be recorded and to decide upon the best way to gather this information. It will also need to consider how this information on existing facilities can be most effectively used in the assessment of applications for national lottery grants in conjunction with other factors such as current and future population demographics and the diverse needs of a wide range of sports. Carrying out an effective and comprehensive national audit of local facilities is a major and complex undertaking and is likely to take a substantial amount of time and resources to complete.
