Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I shall start with Deputy Fitzpatrick. Congratulations to Dundalk Football Club. What it has achieved is fantastic. The League of Ireland has not got the recognition it deserves and we are all very proud of the players. I did not ignore the Deputy's invitation. I am sorry that I did not go to Dundalk in the summer but I will do so.

Let me address the Brexit query and I will then deal with the sports capital issue. There has been no knee-jerk reaction to Brexit but if there has been one, then it has probably been wrong. I assure everyone that the Department and I are watching matters particularly closely in the context of tourism and the effects Brexit may have on it. Tourism Ireland is engaging with the tourism industry on the implications of Brexit on overseas tourism to Ireland. In July, a meeting was held with key industry representatives to assess the situation and a further meeting is due to take place in September. I do not know of any immediate or dramatic reduction in bookings from the UK but that is to be expected. I shall issue one warning. There was a huge fall in the value of sterling as a result of Brexit and that will have some effect on the tourism industry here. Currency rates are difficult to predict. Just because the rate has fallen does not mean that sterling will remain permanently in that situation. We are rather at the mercy of currencies. Let us remember that all of the other surrounding European countries are in the same position. Sterling has fallen in value against the euro so they are affected as well. They will suffer the same loss of British tourists. The people in Britain who want to go somewhere on holiday will experience difficulties in finding anywhere cheaper unless they travel outside the euro area. I do not feel as depressed about this matters as some others.

Let me discuss the sports capital grants so that I can answer the questions for everybody. Yesterday, I met the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe. Talks have taken place with my Minister of State, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan. He wrote to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform on 13 September seeking approval, during the Estimates campaign, to implement a commitment to sports capital grants by way of an annual round of the sports capital programme, with allocations each year of €40 million beginning in 2017. As members will know, there is a commitment in the programme for Government to allocate sports capital grants on an annualised basis.

Obviously, all Departments are currently engaged with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in the context of finalising the budget. Once the Estimates process is completed, an announcement is expected in terms of a new round of the sports capital programme. With almost €100 million outstanding grants at the start of 2016, the focus this year has been on helping clubs with existing grants to draw down the outstanding ones. As of mid-September, over €17 million was paid out to clubs across the country. I am confident we will make a positive announcement on these grants when the process is complete. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked we had done to simplify the process. One of the big problems has always been the large number of invalid applications, which is intolerable. There is quite a lot of action going on to prevent that from happening in the future.

In terms of future rounds, the programme of work is at an advanced stage on the design of the next round in order to simplify the online application process in order to make it user friendly for applicants. Furthermore, the issue of the number of invalid applications was raised by a number of Deputies at the last select committee meeting on this topic. To address these concerns, the Department is finalising proposals to amend the application process in order to minimise the number of invalid applications. While some of the possible measures to achieve this objective may require further fine tuning and testing, the sports capital projects unit of my Department is committed to reducing the overall level of invalid applications. We have responded to the many concerns on this issue. We will respond in the weeks to come. Members will see a marked difference in respect of both applications and the difficulties people understandably encounter.

It is no surprise that Deputy Troy asked a question about the midlands. Fáilte Ireland has just launched a tender to examine the option in this regard. The objective is to complete a destination development and feasibility study to ascertain the potential for growth and the best mechanism to unlock those areas that lie between the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland's Ancient East. It expects to award the tender at the end of the month. In advance of the selection process, it is not possible to have a definitive timeline for completion but Fáilte Ireland is provisionally aiming for completion by the end of the year. For clarity, any new brand territory would have a shared boundary with both the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland's Ancient East. In this context, areas of those counties that border the Shannon waterway on both sides are captured by the proposed study that is currently out to tender. Indeed, depending on the recommendations arrived at, those businesses and communities along the Shannon may end up benefiting from the work of both brands. There is no county excluded and it would be wrong to suggest that was the case.