Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

In the operation of capital grant schemes, it is the policy of my Department to seek a legal charge of 22 years' duration on any property in respect of which a capital grant or combined capital grants totalling €300,000 and over have been paid in respect of such premises. My Department holds a statutory declaration under the 1938 Act from the trustees of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann not only for the projects for which legal charges are required but for all moneys allocated and subsequently paid to the organisation. Under this statutory declaration, should any of the facilities cease to be used for the purposes for which grants were paid before the expiration of 22 years, those grants are refundable to the Department.

In the meantime, through the Office of the Chief State Solicitor, which is the appropriate State office for such matters, my Department is in the process of registering a charge on each of the subject properties once the various technical conveyancing requirements are executed. On completion of the registration formalities, a legal charge will be held by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism on each of the properties for 22 years for the total value of the grant.

The Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann projects where the value of the capital grants allocated requires a registered charge on the property in line with my Department's policy are set out in the following table.

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