Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have a number of quick questions to ask. Under the grant for sporting bodies and the provision for sports and recreational facilities part-funded by the national lottery, there is a decrease from the 2017 figure. Why is that? Various bodies from minority sports appeared before the committee. Deputy O'Keeffe arranged that with the Chairman recently. They do not like their sports to be referred to as "minority sports", but they are sports with fewer participants than others. The bodies are finding it difficult to fund development officers and keep their sports going at an operational level due to a lack of State support.

Does the Minister have any plans to look at how smaller sporting bodies will be funded into the future? I think there is a sporting policy under review in his Department. When will it be published?

Regarding the large-scale capital grants that the Minister's Department will, I hope, administer this year, the timeframe as to when that application process will open changes depending on the parliamentary question response I read. It was to be opened early this year. The most recent PQ reply stated it would be open within a matter of months. It should be borne in mind that places such as the RDS are looking at redeveloping. There are others that do not come to mind at present but there are sporting bodies that are planning their long-term investment in their infrastructure and that need to know the timeframe as to when they can submit an application and how long the application process will take to be adjudicated on. The Minister has identified the overall envelope of funding, but again he has done so on a multi-annual basis. What funding will be available for major capital projects for 2018, and when exactly does the Minister intend to open the application process for that?