Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)
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In nearly every town and village, marching bands have flourished in recent years. They range from accordion bands to orchestra bands, from flute bands to brass bands. They play at nearly every local festival, pageant or football match. Many bands, such as the Castlerea and Boyle marching bands, are great ambassadors for the country when they attend St. Patrick's Day parades as far afield as the UK and New York.

The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism must set up a fund for these bands. Unfortunately, when they seek funding, they are caught in a no-man's land. While there are some amenity grants from various county councils and VECs, they often only amount to €300. The cost of kitting out a band can be in the tens of thousands of euro. The cost for performing, to cover travel and insurance, can also be expensive. Most bands address a social need of many communities as they support the involvement of young people in community activities. In the south, where there are many pipe bands, every village is proud of its own band.

In Northern Ireland, marching bands can benefit substantially from UK lottery grants. However, in the south, bands cannot fit into the national lottery funding criteria. I have raised this matter with the Arts Council. I ask the Minister to explore the establishment of a ring-fenced fund for marching bands. Such a scheme could be open to all and allow ownership of the instruments purchased through funding. I accept such a fund must be controlled and marching bands would be anxious to comply with whatever conditions would be set down. The moneys will be well spent because marching bands provide a social service and enjoyment to the people who participate in them and their audiences.

Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy O'Donoghue, asked me to take this Adjournment matter and wishes to thank theSenator for raising the issue. He is familiar with the tremendously positive impact that marching bands have on their communities. Unfortunately, he does not have the means at his disposal to provide them with funding. The national lottery-funded sports capital programme, which is advertised on an annual basis and administered by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, allocates funding to sporting and community organisations at local, regional and national level for sports related projects. The programme is the primary means of providing the quality sports infrastructure needed to enhance participation and improve performance in sport. Since 1998 the Government, through the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, has allocated €386 million to over 4,900 sports capital projects.

While in the past a small number of bands were funded under the sports capital programme, the practice was discontinued in 2002. During the Minister's term, no projects without a sporting or physical recreation element have been funded under the programme. While the programme still receives a small number of band applications, these have to be deemed invalid as the funding available is required to continue to improve the level of sporting facilities and the rate of participation in sport.

On the arts side, support of all art forms is a matter for the Arts Council, which is independent in the disbursement of its funds under the provisions of the Arts Act 2003.