Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I am confident the level of funding will increase. Obviously to what extent that will happen is still to be determined, as the Deputy knows. The dual process involves the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the national development plan.

Deputy Griffin was Minister of State previously. It obviously increased from the baseline closer to when the allocations were made. As Deputy Mythen said, there are many good projects across communities that need State backing. With a demand of €200 million and a current allocation of €40 million, we will be looking to increase that. We will be able to give certainty on that in the autumn, closer to when the allocations and announcements will be made. That will be mid to late autumn, so there is some time yet to work through that with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. However, the broader position of this Government on capital, as part of the recovery, is focused on regional employment, getting people back to work and promoting recovery. The capital is very important. Sports capital hits every community in every corner of the country and has positive regional employment benefits as well as long-term benefits around participation in sport. That has to be underpinned with backing, and we will be seeking to increase it beyond the €40 million baseline so more projects will be captured in the coming years.