Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 189: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if his Department has conducted any assessment of the capacity to develop skateboarding as a recreational outlet in Dublin city and other urban centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9598/05]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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An assessment of the type proposed by the Deputy would be more appropriately carried out by the local authorities concerned. My colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, recently announced a funding scheme for skateboarding. I am not aware of the problems of the particular skateboarding park to which the Deputy refers.

My Department administers the national lottery-funded sports capital programme, which allocates funding to sporting, voluntary and community organisations, schools and local authorities. The programme is advertised on an annual basis.

Applications for skateboarding projects are of course acceptable under the programme, provided that they otherwise meet its terms and conditions. One such application, from Dublin City Council for the provision of a skateboarding park, was received under the 2004 sports capital programme and was successful, receiving a provisional allocation of €100,000.

Applications for funding under the 2005 programme were invited through advertisements in the newspapers on 5 and 6 December last. The closing date for receipt of applications was 4 February 2005. One application was received for a skateboarding project and this, like all applications received before the deadline, is currently being evaluated against the programme's assessment criteria, which are outlined in the guidelines, terms and conditions of the programme. I intend to announce the grant allocations for the programme as soon as possible after the assessment process has been completed.