Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

There is no backlog of payments due from the Department to grantees. Payments are made promptly when grantees fulfil the terms and conditions of the sports capital programme.

For a variety of reasons it can take grantees several years to draw down allocations. Some of the more common reasons for this include delays in finalising the legalities required to protect the State's investment; delays in the planning process and-or construction; and difficulties in raising the required own funding. Where delays are excessive, or the project has ceased, the Department seeks to withdraw allocations. At 31 December 2010, there was €77.5 million in outstanding commitments to be drawn down by sports capital programme grantees. This represents approximately 1,100 grantees and compares to €190 million in outstanding commitments at the end of 2007.

The Department does not compile data on sports capital programme allocations on the basis of Dáil constituency but rather on a county basis. Details on allocations are available on the Department's website.

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