Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

Through my Department special funding of €1.5 million has been allocated from the dormant accounts fund this year to provide opportunities for persons with a disability to participate in sport and physical activity by way of the appointment of sports inclusion development officers in local sports partnerships. In 2007 funding of almost €2 million was allocated from the dormant accounts fund through my Department for projects to increase participation in sports and recreation in disadvantaged areas.

My colleague, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, has overall responsibility for dormant accounts spending and the funding through my Department is an element of a larger set of economic and social disadvantage funding measures. In addition to these special measures under the dormant accounts fund, my Department also provides funding for sports in disadvantaged areas through the Irish Sports Council and the sports capital programme.

My Department funds the Irish Sports Council, the statutory body responsible for the development of sport in Ireland, and has allocated over €57 million to the council in 2008. This significant level of funding has enabled a number of significant interventions for the benefit of disadvantaged areas. Examples include the local sports partnerships, LSP, network, the Buntús programme for primary schools in LSP areas, development officers in national governing bodies and special funding to the FAI, the GAA and the IRFU.

Under the sports capital programme, which is administered by my Department, funding is allocated to sporting and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country towards the provision of sport and recreational facilities. One of the stated aims and objectives of the sports capital programme is to prioritise the needs of disadvantaged areas in the provision of facilities. Since 2002, those areas that have been designated by Government for special support through the schemes administered by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, namely, RAPID, local drugs task forces and CLÁR areas, are treated as disadvantaged under the programme. Projects identified as being located in areas designated as disadvantaged are targeted and prioritised in a number of ways during the assessment of applications. Successful projects under the sports capital programme in CLÁR and RAPID areas may qualify to receive additional top-up funding, payable by the Department of Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, in addition to their sports capital allocation.

In 2007 over 1,530 applications were received for the programme and provisional allocations totalling €85 million were made to 935 projects. Grants totalling €38.68 million were allocated to 455 projects in disadvantaged areas under the 2007 sports capital programme. My colleague, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, has announced top-ups for qualifying grantees of just over €6.9 million.

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