Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 6: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the position regarding the roll-out of the nationwide audit of sports facilities. [26955/06]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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The proposed nationwide audit of sports facilities is being carried out in stages to help speed up the availability of information. The first phase of the audit will establish a record of national and regional sports facilities and is being carried out within my Department.

The work being undertaken is a data gathering exercise in conjunction with the main sporting bodies and local authorities to identify the facilities for inclusion in this phase. Having identified in excess of 100 sports facilities of national or regional significance funded under my Department's sports capital programme since 1999, my Department has written to 16 of the main sporting bodies seeking their input before finalising this list of national and regional sports facilities.

This draft list, which will also include details of third level educational institutions and swimming pools, will be sent to local authorities for their input before it is completed. Following this, a detailed questionnaire seeking the necessary information on the sports facilities will issue to facility owners and managers, and this will be used to establish a comprehensive database. Work has commenced on the content of this questionnaire, which should be ready for issue by the end of the summer.

It is expected that the detailed information to be provided in response to the questionnaire will be collated and stored on a database by the end of the year. By ascertaining and mapping what is already in place at a national and regional level, an important part of developing a strategic approach to future facility provision is put in place.

This is also of critical importance in the context of maximising opportunities around the London Olympics in 2012. It is clear that decisions on where to locate their final pre-Olympic training camps are likely to be taken by many of the leading sporting teams over the next two to three years. The president of the Olympic Council of Ireland, Mr. Pat Hickey, has advised me that he has already received inquires from several high profile countries.

In addition to key national facilities such as the National Aquatic Centre, Morton Stadium and national centres for other sports such as rowing, basketball, hockey and tennis, this first phase of the audit will also include universities. The location of a wide range of sporting facilities, along with living accommodation in a campus style setting, may be an important requirement for visiting teams.

The enormity of completing the audit of sports facilities, even in this initial phase, should not be underestimated. Given the experience of other countries, it is likely to take a number of years to complete. The benefits will be considerable, and in establishing the level of need that still exists in the sports sector and helping to determine future priorities, it will underpin a strategic approach to facility provision.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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This question arises from promises in the programme for Government, and the audit was to be carried out. When is the expected date for its conclusion and publication? I appreciate that considerable funding has come from the Minister's Department, which has been helpful. For example, a swimming pool in Skerries would not be built, along with many other projects, only for such funding. I also acknowledge co-operation with the Department of Education and Science to ensure that facilities are used to their maximum capacity.

Nevertheless, there is a growing reliance in communities on private funding for facilities. As long as facilities are provided, any funding is good funding. There are a number of projects that slip through the net. Speaking to constituents, the Minister and I know how fairly basic facilities, such as a skateboard park costing approximately €40,000, are not in place. They seem to be plentiful in other European countries. In this country it is different. One is being built in Drogheda, but there is none for Dundalk. There is one planned for Swords, but none for Balbriggan.

There is a selective and insufficient provision of quite basic facilities, which are important in the first instance because of the issue of childhood obesity, but are also important for the basic quality of life we expect for people. Does this fall through the net, given the Minister's comments about the Olympics and other high level sport activity?

There was a promise when the Minister's predecessor, Deputy McDaid, was responsible for such matters, that there would be an indoor athletic area in Santry for people who depend on Santry's stadium at the moment. Many of those athletes now have to go abroad. One of our top athletes, who was from Donabate, was tragically killed in a road accident abroad recently. There are many athletes — although not many of her high standard — who have to go abroad for training. Appropriate indoor training facilities do not exist in this country.

Is that a priority? When the audit is done, will there be a priority on the absolute needs, especially based on promises made and which badly need to be fulfilled? Morton Stadium does a fantastic job, but an indoor athletic arena is badly needed.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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It is difficult to know when an effective and comprehensive national audit of local facilities will be completed. It is a major undertaking. The Sports Council in Northern Ireland embarked on a similar exercise in recent years, and it has taken between two and three years to identify the facilities. I am pleased with the progress of the sports capital programme since 1998. We have now financed approximately 5,600 projects in every city, town, village and parish in the country. That has improved facilities enormously.

With regard to other facilities, criteria which I outlined earlier are used by the Department's officials in assessing various applications. This year, more than 700 applications were successful from a total of almost 1,400. That equates to an approximate 50% success rate. Regional grants have not yet been announced but we hope to announce them in the not too distant future.

The indoor arena to which Deputy Sargent referred is obviously a concept in which I have a great interest. Phase one of Abbotstown should be completed by the end of 2010 or thereabouts, and I certainly hope the question of an indoor arena can be addressed in the context of the next phase of Abbotstown.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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What about skateboard parks?

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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To the best of my knowledge, skateboard parks, playgrounds etc., are under the remit of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government or the Department of Health and Children.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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It is a sport.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's objective is to provide infrastructure for competitive sport.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Skateboarding is competitive.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Will the Department's audit include the level of facilities available in primary schools throughout the country? If not, why? Facilities in schools are important.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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It will.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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We all agree with and fully understand the reason the amount of funding that has been provided through the national lottery for facilities right around the country. Will the audit check that those facilities are being used to maximum effect or will it merely state there is a facility in Athy, in Killorglin in Kerry or wherever? Will it go further than the basics of noting the facilities or will the questionnaires of which the Minister spoke involve an audit into participation in the context of the facilities? Is it an audit of existing facilities or of the use made of the facilities?

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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The audit is to ascertain what is available at present, and then to identify any facilities which are lacking in various areas and any existing gaps. This, in turn, will enable the Minister to fill those gaps.