Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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4. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the capital grants criteria for sports centres; the criteria for the transfer of capital allocations from one sporting organisation to another; the criteria for the way in which those sporting organisations spend those grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46393/14]

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Recently, the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, announced six regional projects to the tune of €200,000 each. Following that announcement, there was adverse media coverage which alleged that he was engaged in parish-pump-style politics, ensuring that a project in his own political backyard received funding. We all support all sporting organisations. They all need funding and they never have enough. The question was tabled merely to elicit the criteria used to allocate the funding that was announced.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I was pleased to announce a total of €40.5 million in allocations earlier this year under the 2014 round of the sports capital programme.

I am delighted that I have been able to secure the agreement of the Government for funding to enable me to announce a further round of the programme in 2015. This will be the third round of the sports capital programme since this Government came into office, and details will be announced when they are finalised. All applicants under the sports capital programme must first register with the online sports capital register, OSCAR, system. The terms and conditions for any programme are published in advance on the Department's website. Applications under each round of the programme are first checked to ensure eligibility.

Under the 2014 round of the programme, all eligible applications were initially assessed against five criteria, namely the likelihood of increasing participation or improving performance and availing of shared facilities, the level of socioeconomic disadvantage in the area, the technical merits of the project, the level of other funding available to the organisation, and the level of sports capital programme funding received in the past.

In some instances the Department permits a change of purpose or change of location in relation to a grant when asked to do so by a grantee. The sports capital programme does not generally permit the transfer of capital allocations from one organisation to another. It does, however, occasionally allow a change of grantee where the new grantee has title to the property and where the original grantee requests the transfer of the grant. Such applications are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

The criteria for drawing down grants - for example, tax clearance, proof of payment, submission of valid paid invoices and completion of any necessary legalities - do not vary according to the type of facilities being funded, though naturally there are less onerous requirements for the purchase of equipment.

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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I did not ask the Minister of State the drawdown criteria or procedure. I asked him the criteria based on which public moneys were awarded to these six projects. We know how the sports capital programme works and how clubs register and apply.

In this instance, an outside agency, namely the Football Association of Ireland, FAI, was grant aided, and it appears from the reply that the FAI then decided who got what. What I am trying to find out is why the FAI picked the projects concerned, because these are public moneys. There does not seem to be any degree of transparency as to why the FAI selected these six projects over the many other projects. That is what we are asking. Why was it these six projects? Will the Minister of State give an undertaking to publish the criteria and assessment of these six projects, and, indeed, of all the other projects considered by the FAI, among which these six projects came top of the list in the priority order?

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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First, I want to make it clear that that is not the question that was asked of me on the Order Paper. In fact, my Department rang Deputy Niall Collins's party's spokesperson last Friday, at which time he did not know what question he was asking. It is difficult for me to answer a question when the Deputy himself does not know on the previous Friday what the question is.

On the question Deputy Niall Collins raised, since we came into office we have had special schemes every year. We had one for boxing, one for athletics and one for rugby, and this year we had one for the FAI, besides which we allocated €30 million for Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Those all were special allocations, and the FAI made an application. With regard to boxing, we gave the funding to the boxing body, it set up the criteria and it picked the grantees. With athletics, we gave funding to the relevant body and it picked the grantees. With the FAI, it picked the grantees.

Some newspaper ran out with sensational stories, but that newspaper would be far better off if the journalist came down and saw the facilities. For example, I will refer to one club. Deputy Niall Collins is talking about the club from my own town of Westport. That club paid €350,000 for land. If it had been here in Dublin, the local authority would have provided that land for them. Last year, it had to get rid of the girls' football teams because it did not have facilities. The club plays its home games in Castlebar and Ballyhean, away from its facilities. It never got a grant from the Department under any of the grant allocations made previously. The FAI selected the club, as it did the three clubs from Munster. Is Deputy Niall Collins objecting to the three from Munster? Is he objecting to the one from Clones? Is he objecting to the one from Mayo? I am surprised that Fianna Fáil would even think of being against the provision of facilities in rural areas in the regions. The situation in relation to this club is that a journalist ran off with a sensational story without checking the facts, and I challenge that journalist to come down to the club and see the 400 children who are playing football every weekend in our town and in our county.

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State is completely missing the point. He seems irritated and irate when asked in Parliament for a degree of public accountability.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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No.

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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He is. He has just had an outburst asking why anybody should question the reason public moneys were allocated to six projects. I stated at the outset that I do not begrudge Westport the funding. I do not begrudge any club funding. I merely asked Deputy Ring whether he would publish the criteria for the allocation of €200,000 each to these six projects.

That is public money and people are entitled to this information because the other organisations that did not receive the grant aid also are entitled to such information. It is wrong to suggest that anybody is against a club in the Minister of State's backyard or anywhere else. They are not but a degree of transparency simply is required in this regard.

Finally, I note that at the end of the Minister of State's statement, it was indicated the €1.2 million was coming out of next year's allocation. In his response, the Minister of State should state whether it is correct that if the Department was pre-spending next year's budget in announcing the €1.2 million for the six clubs through the FAI, it was pre-spending some of next year's money.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The criteria are simple. The FAI made an application, as did the athletics, boxing and rugby bodies. It set the criteria and picked the applicants, not me. The Government gave an allocation of €1.2 million to the FAI, just as it gave an allocation of €30 million to Páirc Uí Chaoimh and an allocation of €990,000 to boxing. They are the ones that set the criteria and that select the clubs. Were I to pick the clubs, I would be accused of being parochial.

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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However, the perception is there.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Sorry, please.

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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I am asking the Minister of State to deal with the perception and whether the criteria can be published.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please Deputy. This is Question Time.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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All the information can be given to the Deputy. The FAI made its application and the Government made a decision about giving the sum of €1.2 million. However, the FAI made the decisions.

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Can the Minister of State publish how it arrived at them?

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Whatever the Deputy wants. The information is in the Department and as the Deputy has received plenty of information from it, I am sure this information also can be found.

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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I merely am asking whether it can be published.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge the Deputy is well briefed in the Department, which I also understand well. This is the way the system was and the allocations in respect of rugby, Gaelic games and the athletics track were no different. The Government made a special allocation to these organisations, which picked the grantees. That is the way it is and there is no hidden agenda. That is the way it was done and I wish to put on record that this was unlike the behaviour of the Deputy's party, whose Ministers on one day put a million euro into their own towns with the sports capital grant. I operated the sports capital programme on a pro ratabasis and I hope that will never change again. I hope that no other Minister ever again will be able to do it other than on a pro ratabasis.

I also will tell the people of County Mayo what the Deputy, as well as Deputy Calleary, think of them.