Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not going to speculate on this issue. The increase is quite open-ended, let me put it that way. As the Deputy will be aware, sports capital funding is allocated on a multi-year basis. Therefore, we are not only negotiating funding for next year but for subsequent years as well. We are calculating what the potential drawdown will be overall and what the capital allocation will be under particular subheadings. This is not about securing a certain amount for next year, therefore, but for many years, and that process is under way.

We secured extra funding for next year in the budget, as the Deputy mentioned, but part of what we are trying to do in getting as much capital funding as possible paid out this year is to open up opportunities for additional capital allocations through this programme and that will help us to formulate that final calculation. Finding out what that overall net amount to be requested will be is important in the context of our engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

I reiterate that one point of concern in this area is that between 40% and 60% of applications have insufficient documentation. It will be important that we work through that aspect and that those organisations are given the opportunity to make corrections to ensure their applications can then be considered legitimate for potential funding allocations. That process will dictate what the final requested amount will be.

See this speech in context