Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 December 2004
65 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the amount allocated by his Department in national lottery funding for 2004; if he will transfer responsibility for the allocation of this funding to an independent authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31466/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe national lottery funded sports capital programme, which is administered by my Department, allocates funding to sporting and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. The programme is advertised on an annual basis. Under the 2004 sports capital programme, €61 million was allocated in respect of 738 projects. An amount of €100,000 was also allocated this year towards the renovation of the accommodation at Mosney, which is used to house the participants in the national finals of the Community Games.
I have no plans to transfer responsibility for the allocation of this funding to an independent authority. The current arrangements for administering the sports capital programme, which have been applied by successive Governments over many years, have been extremely successful in ensuring that the programme is responsive to local needs.
It is entirely appropriate that the Minister with responsibility for sport should be in a position to use this important instrument of sporting policy to achieve objectives such as supporting projects of particular local or regional significance or encouraging the development of as many sports as possible. Over the six year period, 1999 to 2004 inclusive, €323.3 million was allocated to 4,026 projects. This massive investment in the creation of a sporting infrastructure is now yielding benefits both in terms of local community developments and increased participation in sport. The scheme is administered in accordance with predetermined eligibility criteria, all of which must be satisfied before projects may access funding allocated to them.
As Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, I am directly accountable to Dáil Éireann for the operation of the sports capital programme. This accountability is ongoing and finds expression, for example, through parliamentary questions, adjournment debates, Estimates debates and engagement with Oireachtas committees. This is a feature which would be notably absent were the administration of the sports capital programme to be made the responsibility of an independent board.
Apart from the obvious issue of how one determines independence, experience elsewhere has shown that decisions by independent boards do not always receive universal acceptance. Where a grant scheme attracts a level of applications well in excess of available funding, as is the case with the sports capital programme, unsuccessful applicants will always experience an understandable sense of disappointment whatever the decision making process.
Would the Minister not consider the Irish Sports Council, through the local sports partnership, a more appropriate agency to allocate the national lottery funds? This method of allocation would be less political, less contentious and controversial and, perhaps, more transparent. Surely the Minister would trust the Irish Sports Council to allocate the funding on a fair basis.
Yes, and I sincerely hope the Irish Sports Council has trust in me. I am confident that the administration of the scheme as it exists at present is transparent and accountable. I am required to come to the House and answer questions from Deputy Deenihan and others about the administration of the fund. It is working extremely well. There has been an emphasis on areas of disadvantage, CLÁR areas and areas in RAPID regions. This is to the benefit of people who are more vulnerable and it has resulted in an increase in participation in the regions concerned.
I sincerely hope we can continue with the programme in future years and that we can build the type of infrastructure to which most people in the country with an interest in sport aspire.
Regardless of the validity of the accusations, the Government will always be open to accusations of geographical bias in the allocation of national lottery funds. This does not reflect well on the Government, regardless of how egalitarian it attempts to be in weighing the competing demands of sports organisations. Does the Minister not agree that the local sports partnerships mentioned by Deputy Deenihan would be a fairer and more transparent vehicle for the allocation of funds, given that they are in place in a number of counties?
Were the Minister to plan over a three year period to go down the local sports partnership route, it would create an impetus to have a local sports partnership in every county. The process involving the latter has stalled in recent years.
How many applications have been successful in being granted funding? In a number of instances, local groups, despite the quality of their applications, have not been able to raise funding. No one could be critical of the officials in the Department who deal with this matter because they are more than helpful on all occasions. However, will the Minister consider if there are possibilities for funding for local groups with good, positive proposals that would be of benefit to their areas? Would there be a possibility, for example, of their being given more time to acquire funding? The legislation states they must have matching funding but there have been cases where local groups were caught out in that regard. As a result, many good proposals have not been proceeded with.
I will reply to Deputy Wall's question first. No funding can be released under the programme until the criteria have been adhered to. Unless the local funding is forthcoming, the simple truth is that the Department will not be in a position to provide matching funds. It cannot pay out anything unless all of the criteria to which the grants are subject are adhered to. Extensions are given on occasion — following representations etc. — to enable groups gather the necessary resources. If anything, the Department has been relatively liberal in that regard, particularly in entertaining representations from all Members of the House.
Deputy Gogarty suggested that we should proceed to have the money distributed through the sports partnerships. Such partnerships are in their infancy. The knowledge to be gleaned from their experience will be of considerable help in years to come. As of now, they have not spread to every county. There are 16 such partnerships. It is hoped to expand this number in the coming years to ensure there is one in every county. A closer examination of the current distribution will show a remarkably even spread, particularly if one takes into account the length of time the programme has been in place.
