Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 12: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will re-examine the grant application by a group (details supplied) in County Monaghan in view of the fact that significant moneys have been committed resulting from the St. Andrew's Agreement towards the Border region; his views on whether in view of the new situation the Monaghan region should have additional opportunity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25365/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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In April last funding of €32 million was awarded to the promoters of 67 projects nationwide under the Arts and Culture Capital Enhancement Support Scheme II (ACCESS II 2007-2009). The ACCESS scheme is designed to assist the provision of high standard arts and culture infrastructure, thereby enhancing access to the arts throughout the country, including the border region.

ACCESS has been widely acknowledged as a significant intervention in the provision of high quality arts and culture infrastructure around the country. It is expected that ACCESS II will also result in the creation of direct and indirect employment in the arts and in the local economies.

A total of 155 applications were received under the scheme. Funding of the order of €200 million was sought. As only €32m was available for disbursal, hard decisions had to be made and many worthy projects, including this one, were not offered funding. Nevertheless, a total of 67 projects in all (including two in Monaghan) were offered funding in this round.

All unsuccessful applications have been retained on file and will be re-considered should additional funding become available. The project promoters in question have also been advised by representatives from my Department to forward any additional information, which may assist that consideration process. I understand that my officials will be meeting the promoters shortly to discuss the project.

I have no statutory role in relation to funding stemming from the St. Andrews Agreement, but I can ensure the Deputy that any application for capital arts funding received by my Department will receive fair consideration and will be evaluated on its merits.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 13: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the sports and arts scholarships available from his Department for students wishing to attend third level education; the number of these that issued in the last year; the list of recipients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25653/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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My Department currently funds two different third level scholarships. Both scholarship programmes are of five year duration, and were put in place to honour the memory of two seminal figures in the Irish literary and arts philanthropy world. The details are as follows: The Beckett Scholarship for Drama, in the Drama School at Dublin University, Trinity College.

The scholarship was put in place as part of the celebrations of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Samuel Beckett, Beckett 100, and will run for five years with a grant of €5,000 per annum from my Department. The scholarship is awarded by Trinity College, which also provides 50% of the funding. The scholarship is awarded after an open, transparent process confined to students in TCD, Beckett's alma mater. The beneficiary in 2006/7 was Nicholas Johnson. The beneficiary in 2007/8 is Jackie Blackman.The Lewis Glucksman Fellowship, University College Cork and New York University.

Under the fellowship, each year a student of History from University College Cork will receive a scholarship at Doctorate level and spend 12 months in New York University and a New York University student of International Contemporary Art will study for 12 months at University College Cork. The €50,000 per annum grant from my Department is half of the total cost of the two fellowships. The Fellowship programme will run for five years and will be subject to ongoing review. The first fellowship will be in 2007/8 academic year and the UCC beneficiary is David Fitzgerald, a PhD student. The fellowship programme was put in place to honour in a tangible and enduring way the seminal contribution of Lewis Glucksman to the Arts in this his adopted country.

There are no sports scholarships available from my Department but I understand that a number of our 3rd level institutions have such scholarships schemes in place.