Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 209: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the amount of funding not drawn down from different sport organisations, after they had been approved for a grant under lottery funding for the past five years, with a breakdown of the figures per year and the organisations and amounts of grants involved. [4584/07]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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Through sports capital funding from my Department, the Government has provided unprecedented levels of funding for sport and its infrastructure in this country, e.g. a total of over €411 million in funding has been allocated in 3,739 grants since 2002 to sporting and to voluntary and community organisations for the provision of sporting and recreational facilities and equipment.

Details of the total amount allocated and total amount not yet drawn for each of the years 2002 to 2006 are summarised in the following table:

The 2006 grants were allocated in July, November and December last and most of those allocations are still to be drawn down. The 2006 allocations, combined with those from 2005, account for the greatest proportion of grants to be drawn down. Following the allocation of a grant under the capital programmes responsibility rests with each beneficiary to comply in a timely manner with the conditions of the grant award to enable the payment of the grant to be made.

The allocations made to clubs and organisations under each year's sports capital programme are published in the media and on my Department's website. Details of the individual payments made each year are listed in the Appropriation Accounts for my Department. It would not, however, be considered appropriate to publish the names of the individual grant recipients which have not yet drawn their full grant allocations, as this information is deemed confidential to the individual organisations involved, many of whom are voluntary, community groups working to provide much needed sporting and recreational facilities.

Under the guidelines, terms and conditions of the sports capital programme, a "sunset clause" provision exists whereby my Department can fully or partially withdraw grants in the absence of satisfactory progress being made by the grantee in drawing down the grant. My Department deals with each case on its merits, taking into account the circumstances or difficulties faced by the individual grantee concerned.