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

There were many questions in that contribution. The programme for Government contains a commitment to running the sports capital and equipment programme regularly. We have not set a date for when the next round will be, but that commitment is in the programme for Government and it is also referred to in the national development plan, NDP.

Turning back to the current programme, it will take some weeks to try to assess what the net request to be made will be. I am hopeful that it will be done by the end of the year, but I am not going to set a date until I am presented with the final assessments. It could be the end of the year, but it will make no difference if it is the end of this year or early next year, because no capital will be drawn down in respect of any allocation made this year since successful applicants have just received formal notification of their allocations. It will, therefore, make no difference to the capital envelope whether the announcement is made at the end of this year or early next year. It would not be possible anyway to draw down funds in such a short timeframe, even if the details of awards were announced tomorrow. It would be unlikely that grantees would be able to draw down funds in the context of the documentation and protocols required to enable that process to happen.

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