Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

At the higher end of awards made under the sports capital scheme there can be applications for large, multi-use clubhouses which are of major benefit to any area but especially so in areas of economic deprivation. The socioeconomic indicator can prove useful when considering such larger capital project applications. However, at the lower end of awards made, for equipment-only applications such as mowing equipment and maintenance machinery, I am not sure the index is useful. If a club needs new machinery to cut grass, the level of socioeconomic deprivation is not as relevant as it would be if a club was, for example, seeking to have a new all-weather pitch or build a multi-use facility. I ask the Minister of State to look again at the scheme because some applications for smaller awards are falling through the cracks. I believe the heavy weighting given to the socioeconomic indicator is a key reason for this. The scheme could be amended by using the socioeconomic criterion in considering applications for grants in big amounts and a slightly different equation in considering equipment-only applications. That is the case I am making. I will give the Minister of State a brief example of how the programme is not working when I come back to him.

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