Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I am sure the Ceann Comhairle will be interested in this issue. This is an attempt to get clarity on this problem and reach a solution. The situation has been explained to me by a particular club in my constituency but it affects several clubs to which I have spoken and my Fine Gael colleague Deputy O'Mahony has told me the issue has been brought to his attention by several clubs around the country. The Minister will be aware of how the sports capital programme operates. The club I am using as an example applied for funding in 2006 and was successful in obtaining a grant of €120,000, for which it was very grateful. It delivered on its project on time and on budget, which is as much as we can ask of any club. It was given permission to apply for grant aid for further development in 2007. It applied and was granted €100,000. It followed all the rules, put in its three tender bids and got approval to proceed with the lowest bid. Again, it completed on time and within budget, paid the developer and applied to draw down the grant. Then it hit the problem.

Under the rules, if a total grant aid comes to more than €150,000, a deed must be procured from the Chief State Solicitor's office to ensure that the State would have a hold over the asset if the club is ever sold. I have no difficulty with this as part of the sports capital funding, but the time involved in obtaining this is causing difficulty. In this instance the club has been tied up for months. The club was very conscious of the Department's vigilance in ensuring clubs drew down the funding on time in the same tax year and on completion of the work. However, as a result of following the rules this club is servicing a loan of €100,000. That was originally a bridging loan, and the Minister will be aware of the cost of bridging finance. However, realising the length of time involved the club has switched to an interest-only loan, which is not as expensive but is still a large draw on a voluntary resource.

The other problem is that this is eating up the club's funds so that it is starved of development funding and as a result is unable to apply under this year's programme. I appreciate that strict criteria are required, it is taxpayers' money and it is important that money can be reclaimed if facilities are sold on. This makes sense. However it is unfair that clubs must foot a significant cost as a result. I also appreciate how busy the Chief State Solicitor's office is. I ask the Government to engage with the Chief State Solicitor's office so the problem which affects many clubs around the country can be resolved as the only winners are the banks charging interest. Nobody in the House will disagree that all the clubs do invaluable voluntary work catering for people of all ages and abilities and this places an unnecessary extra burden on very limited voluntary resources.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Enright for raising this important issue. I am taking this adjournment debate on behalf of the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy Brennan, who is unavoidably absent.

The social and economic benefits of sport are acknowledged by this Government and are reflected in the unprecedented level of Government funding for sport. The level of funding available for spending on sport in 2008 is €336 million, compared to just €17 million in 1997. The commitment by Government to sport was further emphasised by the publication of the National Development Plan 2007-2013 which included a commitment to provide €991 million for sporting infrastructure during the period up to 2013. This increased investment in sport in recent years has supported the promotion and development of Irish sport and the provision of a modern sporting infrastructure, with high quality facilities catering for the participation, coaching, training and competition needs of all levels and types of sport.

Under the sports capital programme, which is administered by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, grants are allocated to sporting, voluntary and community organisations for the provision of sports and recreational facilities and equipment. Since 1998, more than 6,700 projects have been funded, providing a range of essential sports facilities throughout the country, bringing the total allocation of sports capital funding in that time to €568 million. In addition, more than €107 million has been allocated towards the development of Croke Park. The success of that programme is evident when any of us have the opportunity to visit that world-class stadium.

Applications under the 2008 sports capital programme were invited by way of advertisement in the national press on Sunday, 13 and Monday, 14 January this year. The deadline for paper-based applications was Friday, 29 February at 5 p.m. and the deadline for receipt of on-line applications was Friday, 7 March at 5 p.m. The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism is sorting the applications received. My colleague, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy Brennan, will announce the projects to be funded after his officials have completed the assessment of the applications.

The House will appreciate that the scale of these investments warrants protection of the State's interests, as Deputy Enright adverted to. Under the terms and conditions of the sports capital programme, grantees — other than those solely seeking sports equipment — in receipt of funding over a cumulative total of €150,000 must enter into a deed of covenant and charge to protect the Minister's and taxpayers' interest and to ensure that the property remains in sporting use. This places a charge on the grantee's property, which depreciates over the course of fifteen years.

The Minister understands that the Chief State Solicitor's office issues a comprehensive legal pack to all solicitors acting on behalf of grantees, which includes all necessary documents. When the documents are returned they are checked by the Chief State Solicitor's office and, if in order, the deeds can be sent to the Department for sealing. A proportionate amount of time is required for legal documents to be checked by the Chief State Solicitor's office. If the documents are not in order the grantee's solicitors will be notified.

There can be a number of reasons for a delay in the process such as delays on the part of the clubs in having the deed of covenant and charge put in place or delays in the submission of fully completed paper work or the provision of a prompt response to queries raised. The State must ensure that the legal formalities are complied with by the clubs otherwise the necessary securities will not be available to the State. This necessity to ensure that the requisite security is provided inevitably results in delays from time to time. The Department's officials have a very good working relationship with the Chief State Solicitor's office and together they are constantly trying to improve the operation of the programme to assist clubs in meeting these necessary conditions required to protect significant Government investments. In this context, grantees are informed that they should not start any work in advance of the completion of the deed and other procedural requirements of the programme. This is to protect the grantees as no payment can be made until these requirements are met. If the Deputy is aware of projects where a serious delay is occurring, the Minister would be happy for his officials to raise the matter with their counterparts in the CSSO.

I am sure Deputy Enright will join me in complimenting our Ceann Comhairle on the outstanding success of the programmes he ran as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism over several years. Many facilities around the country owe a great deal of gratitude to our Ceann Comhairle.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Hear, hear.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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They certainly do.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I second that.