Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 247: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism when a decision will be made on the applications from County Laois under the 2005 sports capital programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23308/05]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 248: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism when a decision will be made on the applications from County Offaly under the 2005 sports capital programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23309/05]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 247 and 248 together.

The national lottery funded sports capital programme, which is administered by my Department, allocates funding to sporting and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. The programme is advertised on an annual basis. Applications for funding under the 2005 programme were invited through advertisements in the press on 5 and 6 December last. The closing date for receipt of applications was 4 February.

All of the 1,362 applications received before that deadline 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 the provisional grant allocations for the programme as soon as possible after the assessment process has been completed.