Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 217: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of different sports that have sought capital funding under the lottery grant scheme for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5958/06]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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The national lottery funded sports capital programme, which is administered by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, allocates funding to sporting and community organisations at local, regional and national level. The programme is advertised on an annual basis. In 2002 and 2003, 38 sports were represented in the applications which were submitted; in 2004, 47 sports were represented in the applications which were submitted; in 2005, 44 sports were represented in the applications which were submitted; and in 2006, 45 sports were represented in the applications which were submitted.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 218: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if his Department has carried out an investigation or the information his Department has as to the reason such a percentage of grants has not been drawn down from the capital national lottery funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5959/06]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism's sports capital programme, grants are allocated to sporting and to voluntary and community organisations for the provision of sporting and recreational facilities and equipment. This and the previous Government have provided €394.8 million in funding to 4,923 projects under the programme since 1998.

The Department is continually evaluating the operation of the programme with a view to improving the rate of grant drawdown within the context of the resources available, while ensuring the protection of the public funding allocated without compromising best practice in the requirements for the grant drawdown. In a number of cases each year, delays arise on the part of the grantees in meeting the requirements, for example, in supplying the required legal, financial and other documentation.

As I informed the Deputy in response to a recent question, some 1,070 of the 3,575 grantees in the 2001-05 period have not drawn down a payment. It should be noted that 898 of that 1,070 grantees in question, or 84% of them, were allocated grants under the two most recent programmes, in 2004 and 2005. I expect that the rate of payments for the grantees will increase considerably in the coming months. Under the guidelines, terms and conditions of the programme, a "sunset clause" provision exists allowing for a grant to be withdrawn if within 15 months of the date of allocation the grantee is unable to satisfy the Department that it is in the process of drawing down the grant. Grants of €12.99 million, which were allocated, have been withdrawn since 2000.

I am hopeful that the rate of withdrawals by the Department will increase still further during 2006, thereby reducing the number of outstanding grants, while taking into account the circumstances — for example, if the project involved is in a highly disadvantaged area or is of significance in terms of a large integrated multi-sport project — in which a timeframe greater than provided in the sunset clause provision is required so that the grantee can deliver the project.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 219: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if the guidelines of the application for lottery funding permit clubs to seek grants for tutors, physical education instructors or specialists in the respective fields of art and sport; if not, his plans to provide such guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5961/06]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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The national lottery-funded sports capital programme, which is administered by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, allocates funding to sporting and community organisations at local, regional and national level. The programme is advertised on an annual basis. As it is a capital programme, by definition, applications must relate to capital projects, which for the purpose of the programme are defined as the improvement or construction of an asset or the acquisition of permanently based sports equipment, and do not include support for the employment of specialists of the nature referred to by the Deputy.

Grants are awarded to the national sports governing bodies by the Irish Sports Council, which is the statutory body responsible for the development of sport in Ireland, towards the funding of programmes aimed at increasing participation and improving levels of performance. I am aware that under the programmes provision exists for the employment of specialists in the areas of sports administration and coaching. The Irish Sports Council's budget for 2006 is €40.9 million, which represents an increase of 19% on the 2005 budget.

The Arts Council, which derives an element of its funding from the national lottery fund, is the principal vehicle for the provision of State aids to the arts. It provides supports across a broad spectrum of arts activities to a broad variety of groups and is independent in the disbursal of its funds.