Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy is well aware, there was an economic calamity in this country. It was not possible for the sports capital programme to happen every year. It was abandoned in 2008. The Fine Gael-led Government that included the Labour Party reintroduced it for 2012. We had programmes again in 2014 and 2015. There was no programme in 2016. We had a programme in 2017. It was hugely oversubscribed, partially because of the overall improvement in the macroeconomic situation and the ability of clubs not just to raise funds, but to be able to plan for the future again. It was indicative of an improving situation overall. What also happened was, because of that level of oversubscription, we felt that we had to take extraordinary measures to try to address the huge demands that were there. We had 2,320 applications totalling €155 million in requests for funding, but we only had €30 million at our disposal. I make no apology for the work that I and the Minister, to his huge credit, did in terms of getting that money for those clubs. Which clubs in the Deputy's constituency would she tell that we should not have had that money? How many of the clubs in County Louth would she tell that we should not have doubled up the money and that they should not have received funding?