Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 434: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will support a club (details supplied) in Dublin 3 in regard to securing their premises and funding for sports grants. [4787/07]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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The sports capital programme, which is administered by my Department, is the primary means of providing Government funding for sports facilities. Applications for funding under the programme must be directly related to the provision of sport and recreational sport facilities and be of a capital nature, which, for the purpose of the programme, is defined as expenditure on the improvement or construction of an asset and includes any costs directly incurred in this process; and purchase of permanently based sports equipment, i.e. it is securely housed, and will remain in use for 5 years or more. The sports capital programme, does not assist in the purchase of sites or premises. Applications for funding under the 2007 programme were invited through advertisements in the Press on October 15 and 16 last. The closing date for receipt of applications was November 24 2006. The organisation in question did not submit an application under the 2007 sports capital programme.

For the Deputy's further information, section 847a of the Taxes Consolidation Act provides for a scheme for tax relief for relevant donations to approved sports bodies towards the funding of sports capital projects. Approved sports status can be awarded by my Department for suitable capital projects, allowing for tax relief to be claimed by a club on donations towards the project that exceed the minimum qualifying threshold of €250 per annum. This scheme does allow for donations to be raised towards the cost of the purchase of land to be used by the approved sports body in the provision of sporting or recreation facilities.

Full details of the tax relief scheme are available on my Department's website at www.dast.gov.ie. Finally, the Deputy should also note that, under the Finance Bill 2007 published last week, a new exemption on stamp duty has been introduced for sporting bodies in relation to purchases of land for the purposes of promoting sports.

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 435: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will approve an application by an association (details supplied) under the sports capital programme 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4818/07]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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The 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 2007 programme were invited through advertisements in the Press on October 15 and 16 last. The closing date for receipt of applications was November 24 2006. All applications received before the deadline, including one from the organisation in question, are currently 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 grant allocations for the programme as soon as possible after the assessment process has been completed.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 436: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the level of funding allocated to date in 2007 to sport and recreational facilities from national lottery funds since 1987; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4873/07]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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The sports capital programme, which is administered by my Department, is the primary means of providing funding to sporting and community organisations towards the provision of sporting facilities at local, regional and national level throughout the country. The programme is advertised on an annual basis. Payments in respect of allocations under the sports capital programme and of other sports capital grants such as other grants towards the establishment of key regional and national facilities and to national governing bodies of sport are made from the national lottery-funded C1 subhead of my Department's Vote.

I have not yet allocated any funding to date in 2007 in respect of sporting and recreational facilities. The 2007 sports capital programme was advertised in the Press on October 15 and 16 last. The closing date for receipt of applications was November 24 2006. All applications received before the deadline are currently 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 grant allocations for the programme as soon as possible after the assessment process has been completed.

In relation to allocations in previous years, records in my Department indicate that sports capital funding from the proceeds of the National Lottery commenced in 1988 and that sports capital funding allocated for the period 1988-2006 totalled €650 million. I would add, for the Deputy's information, that my Department has also allocated additional funding totalling €519 million, not categorised as national lottery funding, towards the provision of the National Aquatic Centre and Sports Campus development at Abbotstown, the 50-metre swimming pool at the University of Limerick, the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road, the redevelopment of Croke Park for the hosting of the 2003 Special Olympics World Games and the provision, since 2000 of swimming pools throughout the country under the local authority swimming pool programme.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 437: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will support a centre (details supplied) in Dublin 5 with funding in 2007; and if he will work with other relevant Departments on this matter. [5120/07]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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The sports capital programme, which is administered by my Department, is the primary means of providing Government funding for sports facilities. Applications for funding under the programme must be directly related to the provision of sport and recreational sport facilities and be of a capital nature, which, for the purpose of the programme, is defined as expenditure on the improvement or construction of an asset and includes any costs directly incurred in this process; and purchase of permanently based sports equipment, i.e. it is securely housed, and will remain in use for 5 years or more. The programme is advertised on an annual basis.

The organisation in question applied for support under the 2006 sports capital programme and was provisionally allocated funding of €100,000. Applications for funding under the 2007 programme were invited through advertisements in the Press on October 15 and 16 last. The closing date for receipt of applications was November 24 2006. The organisation in question did not submit an application under the 2007 sports capital programme.