Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 69: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will report on the progress which has taken place in relation to a nationwide audit of sporting facilities. [14955/05]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 73: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if the national sports and recreation facilities audit, promised in the programme for Government, has commenced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15020/05]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 100: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if progress has been made on the commitment in the programme for Government to complete a national audit of local sports facilities around the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14999/05]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 69, 73 and 100 together.

The Government has committed under An Agreed Programme for Government to complete a national audit of local sports facilities and to put in place a long-term strategic plan to ensure the development of such necessary facilities throughout the country.

Since 1997, €331 million has been allocated by my Department under the sports capital programme in respect of 4,271 projects across a range of sports and a variety of voluntary and community organisation including sports clubs. This funding has provided badly needed investment in sports facilities varying from the small local sporting clubs up to regional and national sports centres including a number of municipal sports centres developed by local authorities.

This substantial investment in the provision of sports facilities throughout the country in the period 1998 to 2004 has met, in a significant manner, the urgent need for such facilities caused by the absence of investment in earlier years. Therefore, it is now appropriate to assess what has been achieved, identify the gaps in the sporting infrastructure yet to be met and to put in place a strategy to ensure that Ireland has a sporting infrastructure which matches that available in other European countries.

Given the significant overlap between my Department and other Departments and bodies engaged in sports facility provision, it is my intention to set up an inter-agency steering group to oversee the development of such a strategy. I have already raised this informally with some of my ministerial colleagues in advance of bringing a formal proposal to Government.

One of the first challenges facing the proposed steering group will be to oversee the commencement of a national audit of sports facilities. Ascertaining and mapping what is already in place will be an important part in developing such a strategic approach to future facility provision in terms of establishing the level of need that still exists in the sports sector and in helping to determine future priorities. Before undertaking this task important decisions will need to be made by the steering group to establish the parameters and means of conducting such an audit. A range of information already exists at local authority level on sports facilities which could prove useful and how effectively information can be obtained for certain facility types over and above others will be considered.

In reality it could take a number of years to complete a comprehensive audit of all sports facilities. However, it may be possible to conduct the work in stages to ensure that some useful results are available in the short term. I expect that the commitment outlined in An Agreed Programme for Government will be met within the lifetime of this Government.