Dáil debates

Thursday, 15 May 2014

Other Questions

Sports Capital Programme Eligibility

11:20 am

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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8. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the criteria used when determining how sports capital grants are allocated; if population growth and demographic development are taken into account; if he has conducted a survey to identify deficits in sports facilities provision; if so, where these deficits are located; the measures he proposes to address same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21356/14]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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14. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the current position of the 2014 sports capital programme. [21487/14]

Photo of Sandra McLellanSandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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32. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when he will announce those receiving a sports capital grant 2014. [21565/14]

Photo of Pat DeeringPat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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40. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the current position of the 2014 sports capital programme. [21569/14]

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Historically, it has been quite difficult to fathom how sports grants have been allocated, and not necessarily just sports capital grants. Historically, for example, we have seen that a constituency where a Minister comes from is where the lion's share of sports grants have gone. It is very important that people understand the methodology if there is going to be confidence that the money is spent in the places where it is most needed and that demographic trends and deficits are part of that.

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 8, 14, 32 and 40 together.

Applications received under the 2014 sports capital programme are being assessed by officials in my Department.  Every application will be assessed by one official and reviewed by another.  Given the number of applications received and the detail contained therein, this process will take a number of months to complete.  I hope to announce the allocations later this year.

Applications are first checked to ensure eligibility.  All eligible applications are initially assessed against five criteria: the likelihood of increasing participation and-or improving performance and sharing of facilities; the level of socioeconomic disadvantage in the area; the technical merits of the project; the level of own funding available; and the level of sports capital programme funding received in the past. These criteria are designed to give higher scores to applications that will increase participation, where facilities will be shared, that are from designated disadvantaged areas, that have not received substantial funding in the past and that are ready to be progressed as soon as possible.

In 2008, local authorities were requested to carry out an audit of local sports facilities.  Many of these local authorities and local sports partnerships around the country have published online directories or databases of the sports and recreational facilities in their areas.

In deciding the final allocations within each county, the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, and I may have regard to other criteria such as population, performance during the assessment process, and ensuring a geographic spread of rural and urban projects and of projects among different sports.

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Obviously, that is what I would have hoped to hear in the reply, namely, that the methodology is very clear. When the Minister of State goes to announce the grants, will there be checks and balances to make sure that is how it is applied? Given the new politics that has been talked about, this is one of the areas where people will look very critically if there is a deviation from that.

I have raised with the Minister of State on numerous occasions, albeit not in the context of sports capital grants, the significant deficit in respect of sports facilities in north County Kildare. Despite having a population of 60,000, not one town in the area has a swimming pool. When people ask me why their town does not have a swimming pool I tell them it is in County Kerry because that is where the Minister with responsibility for sports when money was available for new swimming pool projects was from. People want a return on the money being spent on sports facilities because that money belongs to them.

Encouraging people to live in towns rather than the countryside requires making towns attractive places to live and sports and leisure facilities are a vital part of that.

11:30 am

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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As Deputy Catherine Murphy will be aware, the swimming pools programme was closed some years ago. I have asked my officials to review the position regarding swimming pool projects and discuss the matter with local authorities. I asked a representative of the County and City Managers' Association what local authorities require to advance swimming pool projects. The enhancement programme for swimming pools worked well and saved a number of pools from closure. However, Deputy Murphy is correct that a small number of areas, including Leixlip, do not have a swimming pool. Local authorities are no longer interested in operating swimming pools because they are too costly. I am considering the possibility of opening a limited scheme to enable a number of counties to make an application for funding for a new swimming pool. I will review the matter.

The Deputy will have to admit that the most recent round of funding under the sports capital programme was the fairest ever allocation and the first that did not give rise to media controversy. I allocated funding on a pro ratabasis to ensure every county received a fair share of the overall allocation. When I reviewed the allocations for the past ten years, I noted which counties had done very well, reduced funding to such counties and increased funding to counties that had not done so well. For example, the figures indicated that, on a per capitabasis, funding to counties Carlow and Wicklow amounted to €1 or €2, whereas the equivalent figure for counties Donegal and Kerry was as high as €195 per capita. I wonder why that was the case. I decided not to provide further funding to these counties and instead increase funding to counties that had done badly in previous funding rounds.

When the most recent round of funding under the sports capital programme was announced, journalists immediately tried to find out if County Mayo received a greater allocation than other counties. The county was allocated, pro rata, the funding to which it was entitled, as were all other counties. I did what Dr. John Considine wanted to me to do and when he found no reason to criticise local schemes, he examined the regional schemes. Not every county had a regional scheme, however.

Photo of Timmy DooleyTimmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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That is where the Minister of State was caught out.

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Sports capital funding is welcome and the sooner it is announced the better not only for successful applicants for planning purposes, but also for unsuccessful clubs. Does the Minister of State have figures on the number of invalid applications? Given that this is the second scheme over which he has presided, can anything be done for clubs which have had two applications rejected? Clubs that have missed out on two funding opportunities may not have access to a new source of Government funding for a number of years.

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The figure for invalid applications is 38%. I must give my officials full credit for making the application process easier and allowing online applications to be submitted. The three main reasons for declaring applications invalid were the absence of own funding by the applicant, a failure to have the property in question registered and the absence of a planning approval for the proposed works. While I made my officials available before the process commenced, they will not speak to applicants while the process is ongoing. Officials assisted applicants in every way during the initial process.

Deputy Eoghan Murphy is correct that some of the invalid applications were received from organisations which submitted an invalid application in the previous round of sports capital funding. Despite writing to the organisations in question following the previous process to indicate the reasons their applications were invalid, some of them submitted further invalid applications. I want this process to be fair and, as such, I will not consider any invalid applications. Under the most recent round of the programme and unlike in previous rounds, not one invalid application was considered.

Photo of Pat DeeringPat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the funding available under the sports capital programme and the criteria the Minister of State introduced two years ago. As the Minister of State noted, County Carlow was discriminated against for many years. It is interesting to hear Deputy Catherine Murphy refer to County Kildare. I am aware of one club in County Kildare which received more in sports capital funding than County Carlow secured over the years. Fortunately, this type of discrimination was addressed in the previous round of funding.

On invalid applications, will the relevant clubs and organisations be notified in advance of the next announcement on funding that their applications were invalid and the reasons therefor? Will they also be informed of the steps they can take to rectify the position in future applications? When will the funding allocation be announced and will the announcement specify a timeframe within which it must be spent?

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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On the previous occasion, we did not write to unsuccessful applicants until some weeks after the funding round was announced. On this occasion, I hope a letter will issue to every unsuccessful applicant on the day the announcement is made. Every club will receive a letter, as they did on the previous occasion, setting out the reasons their application was invalid. This should make matters easier.

On the timeframe for the announcement, more than 2,000 applications for funding have been received and are being processed. The announcement will not be made before the local elections.

I cannot understand the reason that clubs and organisations which received a letter explaining the reasons their applications were invalid have submitted further invalid applications in this round. It does not make sense. My officials made the process easier by providing a template to be filled in by a solicitor in which registration could be taken against a property. We did our best to make it as easy as possible for clubs to make applications for funding. We do not want to penalise clubs and while we not be able to fund every club, I want all of them to have a fair crack of the whip. The law of the land is that invalid applications cannot be considered and that will remain the case.

Photo of Pat DeeringPat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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How were invalid applications from clubs able to proceed through to the next stage under the new electronic application process? Of the €26 million allocated two years ago, how much remains unspent?

Photo of Anthony LawlorAnthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased with the manner in which the Minister of State is allocating funds under the sports capital programme. He has not engaged in the type of gerrymandering that occurred under previous Ministers, although I must admit that County Kildare benefited from this approach under a previous Minister for Finance. Will clubs be able to carry out works in stages and be paid on that basis?

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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On invalid applications, a template to be signed by solicitors was provided as part of the process. Rather than completing this template, some applicants submitted letters with incorrect information. My officials did their best to make the process as easy as possible. Applications proceeded to the next stage because the letters that were received had to be checked. When this was done it was found that many of them were invalid. Registration of property is a major problem in this country. I respect the fact that those involved in sporting organisations act in a voluntary capacity. I feel sorry for the secretary or chairman of a club in the sense that applying for funding places a major onus and responsibility on them. While we try to be as lenient and fair as possible, invalid applications will not be considered. Having made the application process easier, I cannot do more. However, the number of invalid applications has declined from 48% to 38%.

Approximately €58 million of funding remains outstanding from previous rounds. In the previous round, successful applicants were given a two year period to spend the funding.

I see it happening again. More than a year and a half after the moneys were allocated, organisations are coming back looking for the second round when they did not even spend the first round. They will not be considered too seriously.

11:40 am

Photo of Anthony LawlorAnthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Can the sports capital allocations be paid in stages?

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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My understanding from the rules and regulations is that if some work is done and certified, then the Department will pay. The rules and the regulations go out with the announcement of the allocations, so the organisations have to abide by them. There is also the option of staged payments.

Photo of Michael KittMichael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As Deputies Griffin and O'Brien are not in the Chamber, their questions cannot be taken.

Questions Nos. 9 and 10 replied to with Written Answers.