Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 238: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the extent to which his Department has set out and realised sports projects in the past 12 months; the extent of the funding proposed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15434/05]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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The national lottery funded sports capital programme, administered by my Department, is the primary means of providing funding for capital sporting facilities to clubs and voluntary and community organisations throughout the country. The programme is advertised on an annual basis. Under the 2004 sports capital programme, €61 million was allocated in respect of 738 projects. These allocations give very real, practical effect to the commitment made in the programme for government that we will continue to invest in sports facilities around the country. This ongoing investment is yielding an excellent network of facilities for all levels of sport in Ireland and is providing a framework on which the delivery and implementation of national sports policy can be built, covering the three main pillars of our sports strategy: participation; performance; and excellence.

Almost €62 million has been provided in the 2005 Estimates for the provision of National Lottery-funded sports and recreational facilities. The 2005 sports capital programme was advertised in the national newspapers on 5 and 6 December 2004. The closing date for receipt of applications was 4 February 2005. A total of 1,362 applications were received by the closing date and are being evaluated against the programme's assessment criteria, which are outlined in the guidelines, terms and conditions of the programme. I intend to announce grant allocations under the 2005 programme as soon as possible after the assessment process has been completed.

Considerable progress has been made in advancing grant applications under the local authority swimming pool programme, which is administered by my Department. In 2003, €9 million was provided from my Department's Vote to support the construction and refurbishment of local authority swimming pools. In 2004, a record €17.6 million was provided. In that year, three pool projects opened to the public — in Finglas, Grove Island (Limerick) and Tralee — and nine projects were approved for grant assistance allowing construction or refurbishment work to commence at various locations throughout the country. A further six projects had their preliminary reports approved allowing the preparation of contract documents. Programme funding for 2005 has increased to €32 million, allowing further progress with projects. To date in 2005, one project has been approved to go to construction and seven more projects have had their preliminary reports approved, thereby allowing the preparation of contract documents. In summary, 55 projects have been or are being dealt with under the programme. Some 15 projects have been completed, ten are at construction stage, six are at tender stage, 15 are at contract documents stage and nine are at preliminary report stage.

The project to redevelop the stadium at Lansdowne Road has been successfully commenced within the past 12 months. The project will attract Exchequer support of €191 million and is scheduled to be ready for lodgement of an application for planning permission before the end of the year.

As a consequence of the Government's policy of providing substantial funding for sport, particularly towards the development and enhancement of the sporting infrastructure, a range of modern well-equipped facilities have been provided throughout the country.