Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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My purpose is to try to ascertain from the Minister of State with responsibility for sport exactly when the sports capital programme will be announced. Applications for the programme opened in January 2017 with a closing date of 24 February. That is over ten months ago. Many small, voluntary sporting clubs in my constituency of Longford-Westmeath and right across the country put a lot of time, effort and hard work into preparing their applications for the sports capital programme but to date there are some which do not know whether they will receive funding. I ask the Minister to give a clear undertaking as to when the official word will become known.

I am also concerned that a number of colleagues have approached me over the last 24 to 48 hours to indicate that certain members of Government parties were ringing around sporting clubs to advise them that they had been successful and to expect a phone call later this week. If that is happening, I am very worried. Funding allocations should be made known in an open and transparent manner to all Members of the Oireachtas. I am aware that there were a large number of applications this year. As such, I welcome the fact that additional funding is being made available for the scheme. It is important, however, that the Minister of State sets out when he will announce the grants and states how many applications were deemed ineligible. Have applicants whose applications were ineligible already been made aware of that fact? If not, why not? One imagines they should have been afforded the opportunity to submit whatever documentation was missing from their original applications.

Finally, can the Minister provide the House with the reason it has taken so long to go through the applications? The committees of local, voluntary organisations, which are made up of people working in a voluntary capacity, must put forward applications in the space of seven weeks while a fully fledged and funded Department has yet to respond ten months later. These clubs are fundraising to ensure they meet the criteria and they have worked hard to ensure they can make the necessary improvements to their sporting facilities. I would welcome a response from the Minister of State.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Troy. I agree completely that the sports capital programme is a very positive addition to Irish society. Since 1998, €911 million has been spent on vital sporting facilities in large and small communities. The footprint is very visible in the communities where that €911 million has been spent. It has made a huge difference to sporting organisations, many of which would be otherwise unable to raise funding for necessary infrastructure. I was delighted when the scheme was reintroduced in 2012, having been scrapped in 2008 when the economic crisis hit. We were also able to introduce a scheme in 2014-15 and we have been able to do so again in 2017.

When I came into the Department on 20 June, applications had closed. At that stage, there was a budget of €30 million for both the local and regional schemes, with a breakdown of €26 million to €4 million, respectively. Unfortunately, the overall value of the 2,320 applications submitted for both the local and regional schemes was €155 million. Given those figures, it would have been very difficult to reward in a meaningful way all of the volunteers to whom Deputy Troy referred had we attempted to spread the available funds across all of the applications. The first thing I did, therefore, was to consult with the Minister, Deputy Shane Ross. We dug in and worked very hard in the months before the budget to increase the funding for the programme. We had a very successful outcome in the budget and managed to raise the available funding for the 2017 programme from €30 million to €60 million, which was a considerable increase. Hopefully, that level of funding will allow us to deliver a positive and progressive scheme on Thursday of this week. It will be very responsive to the needs of clubs around the country and help to clear a backlog which has built up.

As Deputy Troy knows, the breakdown in 2012 was that 48% of clubs made invalid applications. In 2014-15, approximately one third were invalid. Due to changes which have been made to the scheme and the website, we are looking at an invalid rate of approximately 20%, which is a step in the right direction, albeit still 20% too much. I would like to see a 0% rate of invalidation and to bring everyone through the process as a valid applicant. That would give every club the opportunity to have its application tested on its merits. For now, approximately 80% of applications are valid which means we are seeking to ensure that €56 million is disbursed among approximately 1,700 clubs. Grants will be based primarily on the amounts the valid applicants sought and the points they secured through the application process.

The application process is onerous and clubs provide huge amounts of information to the officials in the Department on socio-economic disadvantage, levels of own funding, previous funding received, levels of participation, social inclusion and many other useful metrics.

The Minister, Deputy Ross, and I were extremely determined to ensure that the true merits of applicants were reflected in allocations. We feel we have come up with a way of doing that which is transparent and entirely fair. We are proud of it because it is a step in the right direction for the sports capital programme, which will have a meaningful impact on many communities when funding is allocated. For the volunteers, there has been a delay because of the extra funding and an unprecedented number of applications - 2,320 is the highest ever - but it was worth waiting for because, ultimately, we will have a very good programme this year.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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It is welcome that €56 million will be spent by various sporting bodies throughout the country. The Minister said that 20% of applications for grants would be deemed ineligible. Will they only get confirmation of that when the announcement is made on Thursday next? There are clubs eagerly looking forward to getting money but on Thursday they will receive bad news and this needs to be addressed, given the time and effort clubs put into these applications, although I accept that the problem has been reduced.

I suggested that all of the 80% eligible applicants receive some funding on the basis of the points system that has been introduced and it is welcome that this is happening. I met a local group in Moate, County Westmeath, and advised it on how to proceed and what supporting documentation it needed to submit. I also advised the group to approach other politicians. One of the members of the Independent Alliance group, of which the Minister, Deputy Ross, is also a member, said that if people were seen talking to Deputies on this side of the House, it could go against their applications. I would not like that to be the case. I welcome the fact that 80% of applicants will get good news on Thursday and that it will be done on a points basis in order that clubs which worked hard to put together good applications, with all the necessary supporting documentation, will be rewarded.

There have been so many applications because we have moved away from operating this scheme on an annual basis. I encourage the Minister of State to move it to an annual basis so that ineligible people do not have to wait too long to reapply.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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I have been involved in sports organisations all my life - running them and participating in them - and I understand from where the volunteers who run such organisations are coming. I am excited about being able to help them this week with grants, as is the Minister, Deputy Ross, and it is a really positive story. Funding is allocated per county and we have moved away from the bad old days when the money went where the politics determined, which was not the right way to go about it. It is based on a points system and on the amount of eligible funding sought.

Some clubs might have received notification of invalidation from the sports capital unit if there were questions regarding their applications, particularly where works being applied for had already been carried out. That would be a very small minority, however, and the majority will find out this week. In future rounds, I want to eliminate the issue of invalidation with something like an over-the-counter system, in which the application can be stamped and validated, or an early bird system whereby a person comes in a month before the deadline to ensure that everything has been validated. In the case of some misdemeanours or minor reasons for invalidation, such as a bank statement that might be two weeks out of date or a letter, figure or name which is missing, we should be able to give a second chance to people. Unfortunately, some invalidations are very cruel. I am not committing to this but I am exploring the possibility, even in the current round, of finding an administrative way of doing something, within the budget, which is not too burdensome on the officials in the Department. A very limited number of people are working on this in the office in Killarney, which is in my constituency. Ultimately, applicants are volunteers helping their communities and we want to help them.