My Department's capital vote for 2014 is over €980 million, some of which is being funded from the proceeds of the sale of the National Lottery Licence announced at Budget time. Decisions around the proceeds from the sale of Bord Gais is a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in consultation with his Cabinet colleagues.
There are certainly capital programmes and projects within my Department which would benefit from additional capital funding arising from this or similar initiatives. Most of the capital infrastructure programmes in my Department are managed by Agencies under my remit. I have forwarded the Deputy's request to the NTA, CIE, NRA and NSDCA to provide details of capital projects at planning stage. Will he please advise my private office if he does not receive a reply within 10 working days.
While my Department supplements funding for the improvement and maintenance of the regional and local road network, the initial selection and prioritisation of these works are a matter for each local authority in line with their statutory responsibilities. The Tourism Product Development Scheme, administered by Fáilte Ireland, is fully committed and new applications are not being accepted at this time. In general, projects under the Scheme are not directly planned or implemented by Fáilte Ireland, which instead grants funding to project promoters subject to various conditions. I have forwarded the Deputy's request to Fáilte Ireland to provide details of the grants awarded under the Scheme.
Similarly, the Sports Capital Programme provides grants to local and regional sports clubs and organisations. A full list of the grants is available on the Department's website - www.dttas.ie. In line with Government policy, all port infrastructure development is funded on a commercial basis without recourse to the Exchequer. That said, I am aware that a number of our State commercial port companies have significant development proposals at differing stages of the planning process and both Dublin and Galway have recently lodged planning applications under the strategic infrastructure development process.
As regards other significant capital projects currently at planning stage, the following table provides the details requested.
Smarter Travel
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Regional Cities Public Bike schemes
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-
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Sections of the Dublin to Galway greenway
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-
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Elements of Smarter Travel Areas Demonstration Projects
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Coastguard Stations
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Ballyglass
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-
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Greystones
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-
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Westport
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-
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Doolin
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