Ned O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 382: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if assistance will be given in having a decision expedited in relation to the release of lands for use by a club (details supplied) in County Cork; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the delay in releasing the lands will have a serious effect on their application for funding under the 2007 sports capital programme; and if his further attention has further been drawn to the fact that the valuation sought by the Chief State Solicitor's office has been submitted. [7562/07]

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 15th and 16th last. The closing date for receipt of application forms and required documentation, including evidence of title, was November 24th 2006. An application under the programme was submitted by the club in question.

In relation to the lands in question, on which the club wishes to place the facility which is the subject of its application under the 2007 sports capital programme, the position is that the organisation which owns the lands was provisionally allocated grants of €100,000 in 2004 and €80,000 in 2006 under the sports capital programme.

One of the requirements in order to draw down payment of sports capital grants, is the invoking of a Deed of Covenant and Charge. The Deed provides, inter alia, for a repayment of the grant in the event of the grant-aided property not continuing to be used for the purpose for which the grant was allocated. My Department's legal advisers, the Chief State Solicitor's Office (CSSO), deal with the grantee's solicitor in executing this Deed.

A deed of covenant and charge was agreed on the title to the property to cover the 2004 grant allocation to the organisation which owns the site. This deed is currently being updated to include the 2006 grant allocation. In this context, my Department received a letter from the CCSO on 5 December last, outlining that the grantee now wished to lease one acre of their site to the club in question for a period of fifty years. As is normal practice, my Department wrote to the CSSO on December 11th last asking for a valuation to be carried out to ensure that the of the remaining portion of land is sufficient to cover the repayment of the grants allocated should that be required. The CSSO informed my Department on December 13th that it had requested said valuation from the organisation's solicitor. I am informed by the CSSO that no further communication has been received on this matter from the organisation through its solicitor.