Under the national lottery-funded sports capital programme administered by my Department, funding is allocated to projects which provide sports and recreational facilities at local, regional and national level. While the majority of the funding allocated under the programme goes to voluntary and community groups, grant assistance is also approved for projects submitted by local authorities. For example, under the 2003 programme, grants to the value of €6.5 million were allocated to ten municipal projects, either directly to local authorities or to projects where the local authority was working in partnership with a sports club or a community organisation. In this regard, I wish to make it clear that I see it as an important objective of sports policy to support multi-sport centres under the management and control of local authorities. Of course, such projects must, like all others, comply with the terms and conditions of the sports capital programme.
Examples of multi-sport centre projects allocated funding under the sports capital programme in recent years include those for Finglas, Ballymun, Monkstown and Ringsend in Dublin and Waterford city, Navan, Trim, Carlow, Letterkenny, Sligo, Ennis, Athlone, Ballina and Portlaoise. Of these, the Athlone sports centre, which includes a swimming pool, has been completed and is open to the public, while those for Ballymun, Finglas, Letterkenny and Portlaoise, apart from receiving grants through the sports capital programme, plan to include swimming pools in the overall sports complex and have applied for funding to that end under the local authority swimming pool programme, which is also administered by my Department.
Applications for funding under the 2004 sports capital programme will be invited at the end of the month. All applications received will be evaluated against the programme's assessment criteria, which are outlined in the guidelines, terms and conditions of the programme. Following this assessment process it is likely that further municipal projects may be selected for funding.
Under the local authority swimming pool programme, there are four stages in a swimming pool project, following the submission of a feasibility study. These, in order of progress, are preliminary report, contract documents, tender and construction. My Department's technical adviser, the Office of Public Works, evaluates each stage and local authorities cannot proceed to the next stage of a project unless prior approval is issued from my Department.
The maximum grant available under the programme is €3.8 million, subject to the total grant not exceeding 80% of the eligible cost of the project or, in the case of projects located in designated disadvantaged areas, 90% of the eligible cost. Grant aid is allocated only when tenders have been approved for the project and the grant amount is capped at the time of allocation. Support is available towards the cost of the swimming pool, toddler pool, sauna and steam room.
The provision in my Department's 2004 Estimate for the local authority swimming pool programme is €15 million, an increase of 67% on the Estimate provision of €9 million for this year. Expenditure under the programme in 2002 was €3.9 million. It is expected that the allocation of €9 million for this year will be fully utilised.
Since becoming Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism in June 2002, I have approved grant aid of €13.1 million for five swimming pool projects which include one new pool, one replacement pool and three refurbishments. These projects are located in Grove Island in Limerick, Finglas in Dublin, Clonmel in County Tipperary and Tralee in County Kerry. Two of the projects are located in Tralee, namely, the Aquadome and Tralee Regional Sports and Leisure Centre.
The position on the Monaghan swimming pool project is that, in February of this year, given the special circumstances arising from the enforced closure of Monaghan's only local authority pool, I decided to allow the local authority submit a proposal on a swimming pool under the current programme. A feasibility study, representing the initial phase in the process, has been submitted by Monaghan Town Council and is under consideration in my Department.
The Government intends, as it committed in An Agreed Programme for Government, to put in place a long-term strategic plan to ensure the development of sports facilities throughout the country. The first step in this process has commenced with a review of the sports capital programme under the Department's expenditure review programme. The purpose of this review is to establish what has been achieved under this programme in recent years with a view to identifying gaps in the existing provision and procedures and setting priorities for the future. The expenditure review will be completed by the end of this year.
A similar review of the local authority swimming pool programme has recently commenced and the results of both will feed into the overall strategic plan for the provision of sports facilities.
