Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ring, to the House. Group spokespersons will have eight minutes to speak and Sinn Féin has three minutes. Thereafter, questions, limited to one minute, may be put to the Minister of State.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am delighted to have the timely opportunity to address this House on the subject of the sports capital programme. Senators will be aware that on 28 March I was delighted to launch the first round of the programme since 2008. The programme is the main channel of Government support for developing sports facilities and purchasing sports equipment for sports clubs and organisations across the country. The programme aims to foster an integrated and planned approach to developing sports and physical recreation facilities throughout the country. In particular, its objectives are to assist voluntary and community organisations, the national governing bodies of sport, VECs and local authorities to develop high-quality, safe, well-designed and sustainable facilities in appropriate locations and to provide appropriate equipment to help maximise participation in sport and physical recreation; to prioritise the needs of disadvantaged areas in the provision of sports facilities; and to encourage the multipurpose use of local, regional and national sports facilities by clubs, community organisations and the national governing bodies of sport.

While I was delighted to have secured funding of €30 million for allocations under this round of the programme, funding which shows the Government's commitment to encourage more people to take part in sport, the level of demand for grants will far outstrip supply. We will not know how much funding is being sought until after the deadline of 1 June, but I can confidently predict that we will have requests for funding totalling hundreds of millions of euro. This shows great enthusiasm for the sports capital programme, but it also means we will only be able to allocate a fraction of the funding sought.

While the overall level of funding distributed through the sports capital programme is sizeable, what is more important is what this achieves on the ground. Every pitch drained, every sports hall refurbished and every piece of equipment bought allows an increasing number of people to participate in sport to their maximum potential. We are all aware that sports clubs have a very important part to play in society. With so many unhealthy distractions for young people today, it is very heartening to see the great efforts being made to encourage young people to get involved in sport. Participation in sport is good for one's health, it helps build confidence and gives young people a sense of their worth. It really is a win-win situation for everybody. Individuals benefit physically and mentally, and communities benefit by having people involved in healthy pursuits that divert attention and energies away from less savoury activities. The country benefits by people living healthier and more productive lifestyles.

It is beyond doubt that when my officials begin assessing all of the valid applications, they will face a very difficult task. That has always been the case, but this year it will be more difficult than ever. This is the first round of the sports capital programme since 2008, and clubs and community groups have been waiting for this moment with much anticipation. In every parish in every county, there are people giving their time and energy to sports activities and many of these people are working very hard to provide or improve facilities that are fit for purpose and accessible. We would love to support every deserving project, but the harsh reality of life is that there are limits to what we can do. That is why expectations ought to be realistic. The outcome of this is that there is a huge demand for funding. While it is great to have secured funding of €30 million, when it is spread out across all 26 counties there will be a large number of disappointed applicants.

This time around, the programme will also be open to far more clubs and groups than ever before because the strict requirement on land ownership has been relaxed. Heretofore, all applicants had to own their land or have it on a long lease. Clubs that could not meet this requirement were ineligible for funding. This time, we have decided these clubs will now be able to apply for grants of up to €25,000 to upgrade facilities. I hope that the effect of this change in policy will be most beneficial to clubs in poorer areas. These clubs typically do not own their own land, nor do they have long leases or any real prospect of buying land in the future. These clubs will now have to provide only a letter of comfort from their landlord stating he or she is happy to allow the club to use the facility for the next five years.

In line with the programme for Government, this year's sports capital programme will have a stronger focus on projects which increase active participation in sport, particularly in disadvantaged areas. Under the programme, pitches will be drained, floodlights will be installed, sports halls will be improved and dressing rooms will be built. Thanks to these grants, people will have more opportunities than ever to become and stay active in a wide range of sports. It will also have a positive impact on job creation in construction and related activities. As many of the grants will be awarded to clubs in rural areas, this boost to the local economy will be very welcome and will have a knock-on effect throughout.

Another notable improvement in this year's programme is that the minimum amount of matching funding that clubs and organisations will need to provide themselves in order to apply for a grant has been halved since the previous round of the programme in 2008. Under this round of the programme, groups in RAPID areas will need to raise only a minimum of 5% of the project cost; groups in CLÁR areas will need to raise only a minimum of 10% of the project cost; and groups in non-disadvantaged areas will need to raise only a minimum of 15% of the project cost. These are the minimum amounts needed to apply. Clubs in these areas that provide more than these minimum amounts will improve their prospects of receiving a grant. Funding is allocated to applicants based on a combination of factors, including population, the quality of applications received, geographical balance and the need to provide a variety of sports facilities.

In assessing applications, the Department must consider whether the projects are realistic in terms of scale, costs and grant assistance sought. This year, the maximum grant available for local club or organisation projects will be €300,000. The rationale for this limit is to try to focus applicants on being more realistic in their projects. Of course, higher amounts may be allocated to national and regional projects, but with €4 million available for non-local projects, the number of grants above €300,000 will be quite low. I hope that all applicants will be mindful of the amount of funding available and tailor their applications accordingly. Ambition, in itself, is a laudable trait, but when spending money it needs to be tempered with realism.

My staff, in assessing applications, will do their utmost to ensure that we achieve a geographic spread of funding and a spread across a range of sports. The emphasis, as I have already said, will be very much on participation. This is, after all, the name of the game. It is great to watch exciting sports events on television, such as last Saturday's Heineken Cup Final between Leinster and Ulster or the start of the GAA inter-county championships. I congratulate Leinster on a magnificent achievement in Twickenham and Katie Taylor on winning a world championship for four consecutive years and on qualifying for the Olympic Games. She is a truly wonderful ambassador for sport, women's sport in particular.

John Gilroy (Labour)
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Hear, hear.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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People will no doubt be glued to their television screens when our national team rightly and proudly retakes its place among Europe's soccer elite in Poland and the Ukraine next month. It is hard to believe it is 24 years since Ireland took part in the 1988 UEFA European Football Championship in Germany. We will all take a great interest later this summer when London hosts one of the world's greatest sports events - the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Events such as these offer great entertainment and provide role models for young people taking up sport. We must always remember that life, especially sport, offers its greatest rewards to those who take part. Sport is not just about medals and trophies, satellite subscriptions or millionaire lifestyles for the few; it is about people who make the conscious effort to improve their lives and the lives of others in ways that may seem small to some, but which are, in truth, deserving of great acclaim.

Let me give Senators a couple of examples to show what I am talking about. My first example is the Special Olympics World Games movement. It is great to see people with disabilities taking part in the Special Olympics World Games; it is uplifting. My first job as Minister of State was to go to Athens to see our special Olympians taking part. I was proud of the way in which they were competing. This is wonderful. Our Paralympians will be competing in the summer. We sometimes forget they lead by example. They are people with disabilities. When we talk about the Olympic Games, we sometimes forget about the Paralympic Games. The participants are great role models for those who have had accidents or who have a disability. They take part and have won world titles, gold medals and Olympic medals. They do their sports, themselves and people with disabilities proud. They show that a disability is not a hindrance to taking part in sport. I congratulate every one of the participants.

What would we do without volunteers? Everywhere I go there are volunteers, men and women, giving of their time and effort. What would the Government do if it had to pay for such voluntarism? What would it do if it had to pay for everything done in sport? It just would not happen. We should thank those who get involved in sport. We should praise them at every opportunity and I do so in every speech I make. There are, however, the hurlers on the ditch and there are plenty of green areas if they want to play. One should not criticise those doing good for their country. One should not criticise those doing good for sport. I say to those hurlers on the ditch that if they want to take part and give of their time to help young people, boys and girls, to get involved in sport, they should just go out and do it. If they want to hurl on the ditch, they should stay away from those playing in the green areas. Again, I thank those who give of their time to help.

Let me say for the media - of course, they will not be here today and will not listen - that last year my Department announced two schemes. Applications were invited from local authorities for shovel-ready projects to provide sports facilities such as multi-use games areas which could be used for activities such as five-a-side football, basketball, tennis and volleyball, mini-pitches and outdoor gym equipment. There was also the local authorities scheme to upgrade swimming pools to make them energy-friendly. This scheme has saved a number of pools throughout the country. Let me say for Independent Newspapers, The Irish Times and those who want to listen that when these applications were placed before me, every local authority which had made an application received funding. Some local authorities did not have title or deeds to their properties and were refused on that basis. On swimming pools, there were no decisions to be made. A number of local authorities made applications. When we made an offer to them, they considered they would not be able to have the work done by the end of last year. We gave them a second opportunity and every authority which made an application received funding. I cannot understand the great headlines in the newspapers. Let us be honest, just and fair. There were no decisions to be made. I want to inform Independent Newspapers and The Irish Times because perhaps they do not understand it that there was no sports capital scheme in place since 2008. I allocated no funding to the sports capital scheme because there was no such scheme. This will be the first scheme since 2008. If they want to make a story where there is none, let them do so, but we should be honest and fair. A total of 200 applications were received and 111 allocations were made, to a value of €4.5 million. The reason the other applicants did not receive an allocation is they did not fall within the criteria laid down. The same applied in the case of swimming pools. Every applicant received funding. I am aware that in certain areas there is a difficulty with heating which pool operators are not able to maintain owing to the cost of fuel. Any applicant which drew down a grant is now telling me that there is a saving of between €1,000 and €1,500 a week on fuel. I am glad to hear this.

This is a great year for sport with the Olympic Games, the Paralympics, the European Championships, the GAA championships and the Heineken Cup taking place. Our golfers have done us proud during the years and the Irish Open is being held again this year. We are certainly punching above our weight. I take the opportunity to wish well everybody who has qualified for the Olympic Games. They will all give of their best. I see Senator Eamonn Coghlan present. He appreciates what I am saying. These Olympians, no matter what their sport, are working hard to do themselves, their families and country proud. We are not putting pressure on any one of them, but we wish them the best of luck. We also wish the Irish team the best of luck in the European Championship. It will lift the souls, the hearts and minds of the people.

I am delighted to announce today in the Seanad that €30 million is being spent. I hope we can spread it equally and fairly around the country. Expectations are high that everybody will receive funding. We expect to receive applications for a figure up to €300 million. It might not be possible to provide grant aid for every club and organisation in the country, but we will see what we can do to spread the funding equally and fairly. We will also see whether we can target disadvantaged areas.

I hope I have covered most of the issues. I will try to answer whatever questions are raised.

Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State back to the House. His energetic and committed speech raised one's heart. I echo his sentiments on Katie Taylor who has done us proud. We wish all of our Olympians well in the months ahead. In particular, I wish the Irish soccer team every success. There was the first part of an excellent documentary about the boys in green broadcast on RTE last night. We have come a long way since the hungry days when they hardly had laces in their boots, had no budget and no support.

I wish the Minister of State well in the reintroduction of sports grants. As he will be aware, it was a Fianna Fáil initiative which was successful for many years. Unfortunately, owing to the economic downturn, it was not feasible to continue with it. However, the Minister of State has reintroduced the scheme which, I hope, will be as successful for him as it was under Fianna Fáil Governments. Certainly, in our time we transformed sports facilities throughout the country. We gave a lift to small rural communities which were struggling. Whether the grants were small, medium or big, they provided a much needed injection of capital, support and encouragement. They were of huge benefit to the various codes, many of which were struggling to keep pitches open, make refurbishments, build small stands, etc. One can see the good work done all over the country.

The Minister of State is making €30 million available for successful applicants at local, regional and national level. I strongly welcome his commitment to weight it in favour of disadvantaged communities. It is particularly welcome that RAPID programme areas only have to come up with 5% of the cost. The figure for CLÁR areas is 10% as opposed to 15% for all other areas. That is both fair and equitable and to be welcomed. I also strongly welcome the decision to waive the land ownership condition which stymied many worthwhile projects in the past.

I have a number of questions to put the Minister of State. There was a robust defence against his friends in The Irish Times and Irish Independent, for whom I hold no brief. There have always been suggestions of political bias and interference in the payment of grants and it comes as no great surprise that people are looking closely at the inordinate funding that seems to be making its way into County Mayo which I believe is receiving more than the entire Dublin region.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Not true.

John Gilroy (Labour)
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Not nearly as much was allocated to County Kerry under a previous Minister.

Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)
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I understand the other big beneficiary so far is the constituency of Dublin West which, by a remarkable co-incidence, is the constituency of the senior Minister, Deputy Leo Varadkar. They stated the same about the former Minister, Mr. John O'Donoghue, in Kerry South at one time. What goes around, comes around. I suppose there will be a raft of applications from every county. As the Minister of State said, he has a difficult job and it is a matter of the loaves and fishes. He does not have enough for everybody.

I have one query. The closing date is a little abrupt. Online applications must be received by 1 June. The Minister of State is aware that the forms are complex and that many committees employ consultants and specialists to help them. I wonder if he would be prepared to extend that timescale by a month or two into the summer period to allow small struggling organisations the little extra time they need. From telephone calls, there is possibly a lack of communication. Naturally, most sports clubs can hear the grass grow and know when there is funding available. However, there are other organisations which would not be as clued in. I ask the Minister of State, if it is in his power to do so, to be somewhat lenient in this regard.

Everyone has to be parochial and say something in respect of his or her own area and I am no different. The great writer Dr. Bryan McMahon once said, "If it is only a pup goat, you have to be in the middle of the fair with him". I am in the middle of the fair with the Minister of State and I intend to take advantage of that. There are some very good projects in train in Kerry at present. The Minister of State will be aware of a very important flagship project, which is a joint venture involving the GAA, Tralee Institute of Technology and Shannon Development. The aim of this project is to try to develop a centre of sporting excellence in Tralee, the home of Gaelic football. I hope the Minister of State might be in a position to take a close look at what is going on in respect of the project to which I refer.

I am sure the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Deenihan, has brought the Minister of State up to speed on difficulties that have been experienced in respect of the swimming pool and indoor leisure centre in Ballybunion. Unfortunately, and as we enter the summer season, the latter was obliged to close due to a lack of funding. Those who run the centre are seeking funding to put in place a heating and small energy plant in order to try to reduce costs. It is almost impossible to break even in respect of a swimming pool, even in a resort centre such as Ballybunion. I could refer to 20 further projects in my county but these are the two to which I ask the Minister of State to pay particular attention.

The contribution of sport to the economy is well documented. There is a win-win situation in this regard. For every €100 invested by the Government in sport, €149 comes back in sports-related taxes. Some 38,000 people - 2% of the national workforce - are directly employed in sports administration. As the Minister of State indicated, everyone is aware of the importance of sport to people's health and well-being.

Value for money is an issue to which the Minister of State will be giving careful consideration. In the past there were some unfortunate examples of large sums of money being invested in major projects which turned out to be white elephants. We must guard against any recurrences in this regard. One can drive around the country - including through County Kerry - and come across projects which, despite the fact that successive Governments provided grants in respect of them, remain unfinished. Value for money is critical.

The integration of services is extremely important for those who are involved in sport. If one is going to invest money in providing a VEC with playing pitches or whatever, it is vital that local sports clubs be given access to these. If the money is going to the local sports club, then the position should be reversed. At one point, there was an element of mutual exclusivity in respect of playing fields. Local secondary schools used to have fine playing pitches, while the members of local GAA clubs were obliged to tog out and train in boggy fields. There was no communication in this regard but the position is changing. It is up to the Minister of State to ensure that such change continues.

Like many colleagues, I was previously involved in local government. We found that grants came with conditions attached, namely, that the moneys invested had to be underwritten in a doomsday scenario by local authorities. Those who served on Kerry County Council when I was a member knew all about that because we were obliged to underwrite a project relating to the replica Famine ship, the Jeanie Johnston. The council nearly went broke as a result of this project, which was originally estimated to cost €1.5 million but ended up costing €12 million. The county council and its ratepayers were obliged to bail out the project. This was because of a condition attaching to the original grant to the effect that we were obliged to underwrite the project. At the time, I was one of the few individuals involved who was not in favour of the project and who cautioned against it.

Difficulties such as that to which I refer are now arising in other areas. I have already referred to the position in Ballybunion. According to this week's edition of the local newspaper, Kerry County Council is again going to be asked to pick up the tab unless the Minister of State comes to the rescue. I hope he will do so.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The tide for the Jeanie Johnston is ebbing and so is the Senator's time.

Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)
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In that event, I will raise anchor. My final point is that local authorities should not be put in a gun-to-the-head situation in future. Local communities are always asking their councils to underwrite projects which they wish to proceed. Councillors are vulnerable and we are all aware of the chaos that can ensue when pressure is exerted on them. I wish the Minister of State well with his work.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I call Senator Brennan, who is bursting to get out of the traps.

Terry Brennan (Fine Gael)
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Tá slaghdán uafásach orm.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Tá ocht nóiméad agat.

Terry Brennan (Fine Gael)
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Tá athas orm fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit arís go dtí an Teach seo.

As the Minister of State indicated, this is the first round of sports capital funding for four years. All Members should welcome that because it demonstrates the Government's commitment to encouraging more people to take an active part in sport. There is a need to encourage all sporting organisations to share their facilities with others within their local communities. The sports capital programme is aimed at ensuring that sporting facilities are not left idle at weekends, on weekdays or during the summer months, particularly if they can be used for the benefit of other sporting organisations or enthusiasts.

The sports capital programme is the main channel of Government support for developing sports facilities and for purchasing equipment for sporting organisations ar fud na tíre. It will be open to many more clubs and groups than previously was the case. This is because the strict requirement relating to land ownership has been relaxed. This reduction in the level of bureaucracy is to be welcomed. In the past, all applicants were obliged to either own their land or to have it on a long lease. Clubs are now able to apply for grants of up to €25,000 in order to upgrade their facilities. I am of the view that this will encourage greater participation on the part of the young and old in the sports which these clubs promote. I understand that applications - approximately 500 in all - have been received from each of the 26 counties. In addition, in excess of 2,000 further applications have been registered online. I am sure that many more applications will be submitted before the deadline of 5 p.m. on Friday, 1 June. No further applications will be accepted after that date.

As a result of the grants to which I refer, people will have more opportunity than ever to get and remain active in a wide range of sports. This will have a positive impact on job creation in construction, which is extremely important for everyone involved in that industry. The total allocation of €30 million will benefit sports clubs, community groups, local authorities, schools and the national governing bodies of sport. Some €26 million will be allocated to smaller projects and €4 million will go to national and regional projects, with a maximum individual allocation of €300,000. I commend the decision to the effect that applications in respect of these funds can be made through the medium of Irish. This was not the case in the past. I welcome the change in this regard. I also understand that community-based and shared facilities will be prioritised for funding. In other words, one of the criteria involved will be that facilities that are being shared will be given priority. That is a good development.

All applications received by the closing date will be assessed on the basis of a number of criteria, such as the effect a proposed project will have in the context of active participation in sport and the level of socioeconomic disadvantage in the relevant area. Evaluation of applications will commence in the very near future. In light of the volume of applications and the detailed information contained in each, I am sure the process in this regard will take some time to complete. Perhaps the Minister of State might provide an indication with regard to when an announcement will be made in respect of those applications which have been successful. The Department is to closely monitor spending by clubs and organisations in order to ensure that the funding allocated will be fully expended for the purpose for which it is intended.

What is proposed here is good news for many communities and organisations. It is particularly good news for smaller clubs that were previously muscled out of the picture by larger organisations.