National Lottery Funding.

Thursday, 1 July 2004

Ceisteanna (7)

Paudge Connolly

Ceist:

6 Mr. Connolly asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the annual levels of expenditure in counties Cavan and Monaghan, respectively, from the national lottery; the levels of lottery-funded grant aid disbursed annually; the amounts of this funding returned to counties Cavan and Monaghan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19719/04]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí ó Béal (10 píosaí cainte)

Mr. O’Donoghue

In regard to the disbursement of national lottery funding, my Department administers the lottery-funded sports capital programme, which provides facilities for sporting and for voluntary and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. The programme is advertised on an annual basis.

I am providing in tabular format grant allocations since 1988 to counties Cavan and Monaghan under the programme. The vast majority of the overall funding since its inception has been allocated since 1999 and, as I relayed to the Deputy in my reply to his Priority Question No. 31 on 25 May last, the allocations to Cavan and Monaghan are in line with what those counties might expect if funding were strictly on a per capita basis.

In regard to the 2004 sports capital programme, on 7 May last I announced funding allocations totalling €50.8 million to 717 projects, including €925,000 to 14 projects in County Cavan and €996,000 to 17 projects in County Monaghan. In addition to this, my colleague, the Minister for Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív, recently announced top-up funding to some of those projects which I funded under the 2004 sports capital programme, specifically those located in CLÁR areas and those in RAPID areas which were endorsed by their local RAPID area implementation teams. A further €108,000 has been allocated to Cavan and €24,000 to Monaghan through these top-ups.

Overall, I am satisfied that counties Cavan and Monaghan have been treated fairly and adequately in the levels of national lottery funding disbursed through the sports capital programme, funding which has made a major difference to the range and quality of the sports facilities in those counties and in every other county in Ireland.

Sports Capital Programme Allocations to Cavan and Monaghan 1988-2004

	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
Cavan	118,086	0	6,349	12,697	0	0	347,908	25,395	27,934	168,875
Monaghan	222,204	330,132	12,697	76,184	0	0	326,323	24,125	29,204	241,250
Total	21,379,849	1,737,002	2,161,094	1,943,829	1,676,689	5,721,440	13,963,310	3,685,414	9,084,976	11,829,514

	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	Total
Cavan	121,895	333,941	452,027	591,698	691,200	580,000	925,000	3,478,005
Monaghan	83,803	248,869	502,181	615,823	1,233,000	485,000	996,000	4,430,795
Total	7,554,942	25,382,064	45,496,874	56,179,561	78,779,400	53,352,500	50,800,000	390,728,458

Mr. Deenihan

Does the Minister agree that questions like this will continue to appear on the Order Paper until an audit is carried out of all facilities throughout the country to determine the need and identify the black spots to ensure that national lottery funding can be targeted at those areas of greatest need? As a Kerry person, I recognise and continue to welcome the increased allocations to the county since the Minister took office. Prior to that, Donegal benefited considerably. I am sure we understand that from the perspective of Deputies Connolly and others it appears that counties like Cavan and Monaghan are not getting a fair share of such funding. There is a later question on a national audit. When does the Minister consider a national audit will commence? Will it commence in the near future? When Fine Gael gets back into power with our Labour colleagues, we will be very much directed and influenced by the findings of such a national audit and we will invest such money in areas of greatest need and where there is a lack of facilities. That is the way to go in the future.

Mr. O’Donoghue

Counties Cavan and Monaghan have certainly not been ignored by the Government. I suppose it is easy to zone in on one area and forget others. I have already said that the sports capital programme has been kind to counties Cavan and Monaghan. I have visited both counties on a number of occasions to see developments there which are progressing well. I recently sanctioned the construction of a new swimming pool in Monaghan town. My Department was also responsible for sanctioning funds under the ACCESS programme for an arts centre in Carrickmacross. There have been a number of other developments in Cavan and Monaghan under the aegis of my Department. It must be said that my Department does not have a large budget but, in so far as I was in a position to assist Cavan and Monaghan, I certainly did so.

On the audit of national lottery funding, I am satisfied to proceed with it where the sports capital programme is concerned. In that respect, an expenditure review is under way. I hope this will be completed shortly and that we will then proceed to carry out the audit and put in place a strategic plan to map out the way forward. I suppose Deputy Deenihan would not mind calling for a national audit of expenditure in every Department.

Mr. Deenihan

Absolutely.

Mr. Wall

Have many applicants for national lottery funding, not specifically those in Cavan and Monaghan, failed to draw down funding they were allocated? What mechanism is in place to ensure that, in such instances, there is an investigation into the reasons for not drawing down funding? What can be done where people may have problems generating the extra funds required or where they simply do not draw down the funding?

Mr. O’Donoghue

There have been several instances where funding was not drawn down. Figures released on the day of the sports capital programme announcement may look great on paper but the reality is that some organisations never get around to drawing down the funds.

There are misconceptions regarding the sports capital programme. One glaring misconception is that grants, once announced, will be paid regardless of whether the necessary criteria are met. This is not the position. Irrespective of how a decision on a grant is arrived at, the payment can never take place unless the criteria to which the grant is subject are complied with. These criteria involve issues such as matching funds, planning permission, where appropriate, foreshore licences and by-laws.

Unfortunately, several instances arise in which the criteria are not fulfilled and therefore the grants are not paid. On occasion, we have written to various clubs and organisations to state we were subjecting them to a sunset clause whereby we would have to say goodbye to them if they did not take up their grants by 31 December. In such cases, the clubs or organisations suddenly become more active than they were previously and one finds that, in some instances, they then fulfil the criteria. However, as I stated, there are instances in which the criteria are never fulfilled. However, it must be remembered that most of the organisations and clubs with which we are dealing are voluntary and it is perfectly understandable therefore why documentation, etc. may not be forthcoming. In general, most clubs do everything they can to comply with the criteria.