Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I will synopsise the menu that is available to someone such as the Deputy who seeks advice. The programme of grants for locally based community and voluntary organisations is the tops where a refurbishment job up to €40,000 is in question. One can apply at any time. The percentage grant is clear-cut but depending on the level of disadvantage in the area, it is either 90% or 60%. That is all cut and dried which is not much use for a big job.

Leader companies have recently become big players in rural areas. In certain circumstances they have been able to give up to €100,000 and that will increase to €200,000. In the CLÁR areas, subject to the 50% rule, we double the money, rather like the show on RTE on Saturday. If a group raises €100,000, CLÁR gives it another €100,000. That has been useful for many halls in the CLÁR areas. There will soon be a new rural development programme under which that money will increase to €200,000. I hope to continue with the matching funds which will provide a total of €400,000, a serious sum. I am examining the percentage. Until now, owing to EU rules, it was 50% but I might be able to deal with that one.

There is also the young people's facilities and services fund which forms part of the drugs policy money with which my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Pat Carey, deals. That is focused on areas at risk from drugs and the local vocational education committees have an input into it. There is a flagship under the dormant accounts fund which tries to attract people who have made large sums of money recently by saying, for example, if they put up €1 million, we will match that.

Committees find it frustrating to try to pick and match within the rules, especially those near the Border which have access to peace money and the International Fund for Ireland and so on. They might get five funders who walk away if the committee is short €20,000. This has frustrated me for years and it needs to be re-examined.

Deputy McGinley will agree that the situation in the Gaeltacht is very handy because there are only three funders there, Údarás na Gaeltachta for enterprise, my Department for community activity and a separate fund for child care. The committees there are not allowed to go to any other funders. They find this handy because they are told the amount of the grant and if they are going for the Taj Mahal, we tell them to cut it down. They do not have to apply by a certain date and it is not rejected if they get it wrong. It is an interactive system which works well. It is difficult to change structures because when one goes to change them, everyone says the old one was great. There is a point in this about considering communities, however.

I hope this type of issue will be thrashed out in committees during this Dáil and that people are willing to make the hard decision and consider what is simplest and fairest from the community applicant's point of view. I do not believe it is a good idea for them to have to match six or seven funds. It is impossible to get them together. The sports capital programme is a great example of a simple approach. What is the simplest and fairest way for them? I do not think that trying to match up six or seven funds is a great idea. It is impossible to get it together. The capital sports grant is a great example of a simple approach, as the Deputy pointed out.

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