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Sports Capital Programme Administration

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 April 2018

Tuesday, 17 April 2018

Ceisteanna (1212)

Alan Kelly

Ceist:

1212. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the date it was decided to have an appeals process for sports capital applications; if there was an appeals process for previous versions of the sports capital programme; if so, when; if a system (details supplied) had to be used to process the appeals; if the system had to be changed in order to process these appeals; the work titles and grades of each person in or outside his Department that was involved in assessing the sports capital grants and appeals; if advisers were involved in the sports capital process; if so, the way in which they were involved; if information on applications or appeals prior to announcement of decisions was shared with individuals or parties outside his Department; if so, the information shared; the way in which it was shared; the reason therefor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15092/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The introduction of an appeals process was formally approved by the Minister, Deputy Ross and me on 5 December 2017 following a recommendation from departmental officials.

The 2017 round of the Sports Capital Programme (SCP) was the first round of the programme under which every valid local application received an offer of funding. Consequently, the decision to make an application invalid certainly cost the applicants a grant offer. Accordingly, in the interests of equity and fairness, an appeals system was introduced for the 2017 round and will be available for all future rounds of the SCP.  There was no formal appeals system in place for the rounds of the SCP prior to the 2017 round.

The introduction of the appeals process ensures that the SCP now accords with the Department’s Customer Action Plan which commits to maintaining "a formalised, well publicised, accessible, transparent and simple to use system of appeal/review for customers who are dissatisfied with decisions in relation to service”.

The Department moved to a new IT system (OSCAR) in 2014 which provides a single system for managing all aspect of the SCP. This system was used to inform applicants that appeals were being accepted. Appeals were submitted using a dedicated email address. Some minor changes were made to the "back-office" element of the OSCAR system to allow officials to record the outcome of appeals and to track appeals as they were processed. 

No person from outside the Department was involved in the assessment of individual applications or appeals. In the case of the original grant applications, the assessments were normally undertaken by Clerical Officers, Executive Officers and Higher Executive Officers from within the SCP Division of my Department. These officers consulted with more senior staff in the Division as necessary in relation to any non-standard issues which arose. In the case of the appeals process, each appeal submitted was initially assessed by a HEO not involved in the original assessment of that application. All decisions on appeal were also reviewed by at least two more senior officials up to Principal Officer level. A general review of the proposed appeals decisions, and the reasoning behind the proposed approach, was also undertaken at Assistant Secretary level.

Advisors had no role in relation to decisions on any individual allocation or appeal.  

The formal grant announcements for local applications took place on the 30th of November 2017 and for regional allocations on the 21st of December 2017. The sports capital programme is important to thousands of communities throughout Ireland. The programme is frequently raised with me by Oireachtas members of all parties and none. I am always willing to engage with interested parties on the programme given its huge benefits for so many people and clubs.

A review of the 2017 round of the programme is now being finalised and will be published on my Department's websitewww.dttas.ie in the very near future.

Questions Nos. 1213 and 1214 answered with Question No. 1203.
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