Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 251: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the funding allocated to the capital lottery fund by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4456/06]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 252: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of applications received for capital lottery funding; if the number is an increase on applications for the previous allocation of funding; the number of applicants for 2005 that were refused; the number that were successful; the number that were successful but have not drawn down any funds to date in 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4457/06]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 253: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of successful capital grant applications over the past five years that have not drawn down funding or have not drawn their total allocation of funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4458/06]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 254: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of applications for capital lottery funding that have failed in their application for the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4459/06]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 256: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the allocation of lottery capital funding on a county basis for each of the past five allocations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4461/06]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 251 to 254, inclusive, and 256 together.

A total of €394.8 million has been allocated in 4,923 sports capital grants to sporting and community organisations since 1998. An amount of €67.724 million is provided in subhead C1 of my Department's Vote from which payments of grants allocated under the sports capital programme are made.

A total of 1,362 applications were received under the 2005 sports capital programme, of which 628 were provisionally allocated grants and 734 were unsuccessful. Applications for funding under the 2006 programme were invited through advertisements in the press on 27 and 28 November 2005. The closing date for receipt of applications was 20 January last. A total of 1,337 applications were submitted before the deadline. I intend to announce provisional grant allocations under the programme as soon as possible after the applications have been assessed by my Department in accordance with the assessment criteria outlined in the terms and conditions of the programme.

Following the making of the provisional grant allocations under the 2005 programme the grantees were informed by my Department of the various detailed requirements to be met in order to draw down that funding. To date, 581 of the 645 grantees have not drawn down a payment since the 2005 grants were provisionally allocated. Overall, a total of 1,070 of the 3,575 grantees in the last five years, 2001 to 2005, have not drawn down a payment and a further 484 have not fully drawn their grant.

The number of unsuccessful applications to the last five sports capital programmes were 734 in 2005; 567 in 2004; 720 in 2003; 513 in 2002 and 771 in 2001. The sports capital allocations by county for the past five years are contained in the following schedule.