Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, and the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Brendan Griffin. Unfortunately, they are unable to be here. As a former Minister of State in the Department, I have some knowledge of the issue raised by the Deputy. As someone from a neighbouring constituency, I know the centre to which he is referring.

The sports capital programme, as operated by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, provides funding for voluntary, sports and community organisations for the provision of sports and recreational facilities. Over 11,500 projects have benefited from sports capital funding since 1998, bringing the total allocations in that time to close to €1 billion. The programme has transformed the sports landscape of Ireland, with improvements in the quality and quantity of sports facilities in virtually every village, town and city in the country. The facilities funded range from the smallest clubs to national centres of sporting excellence.

The most recent round of the programme closed for applications in February last year. I was the Minister of State who opened it. By the deadline, a record number of over 2,300 applications had been received. Originally, it was envisaged that €30 million would be allocated. That would have made the allocation of grants particularly challenging. Following discussions with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, we managed to secure significant extra funding for the scheme. That allowed us to allocate a total of €60 million to 1,807 sports organisations throughout the country. In the case of County Tipperary alone, a total of 82 projects were allocated funding totalling over €2.1 million.

I will outline how individual allocations were decided. For the first time, the full assessment process and scoring system for the 2017 round of the sports capital programme was published on the Department's website in advance of the assessment work commencing. I was the person who insisted that that should happen. The overall amount available for each county was calculated on a per capitabasis, with individual allocation amounts primarily decided by the score received at assessment stage based on the published criteria. Extra marks were awarded for applications that demonstrated how they would increase participation, applications that shared facilities and applications for facilities located in disadvantaged areas. The Deputy referred to these criteria. He also referred to disadvantaged area status. The Pobal deprivation index was used to automatically generate the relevant score based on where the proposed facility was located, as shown by the applicant.

I can inform the House that the Canon Hayes Recreation Centre, of which I am aware, has been allocated a total of over €400,000 under the sports capital programme since 1998. This includes allocations made in the 2017 round of the programme of €27,500 towards the cost of refurbishment of the tennis court. As stated, this amount was based on the total amount available for projects in County Tipperary and the score obtained by the application. While this allocation was less than the amount applied for - a problem in applications throughout the country - officials in the sports capital division of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport are always willing to work with relevant organisations for grants, provided that the proposed alternative works fulfil all other terms and conditions of the sports capital programme.

The Government is committed to continuing to invest in sports infrastructure. In that regard, the national development plan commits to further expanding the sports capital programme in the years ahead. A full review of the 2017 round of the programme has been finished by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and published on the Department's website. The review suggests some further improvements that should be considered prior to the next round of the programme opening for applications. Among the changes being considered are further enhanced weighting for disadvantaged areas and an even greater focus on shared community facilities. Furthermore, the Department is committed to allowing all applicants to correct errors in applications during the assessment stage. This will remedy one of the criticisms levied by many people, including me. I expect an announcement on the timing of the next round to be made in the coming weeks. I imagine Deputies of all persuasions and none will welcome this. In that regard, any application for further suitable works at the Canon Hayes Recreation Centre in Tipperary will receive every consideration.

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