Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 353: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the public service or community obligations that are placed on sports clubs or community centres that receive capital funding from his Department to make their facilities available to other community, voluntary and sporting groups; andif he will make a statement on the matter. [29426/07]

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware my Department provides capital funding for projects through a number of schemes and programmes, details of which are available on the Department's website www.pobail.ie. Each of these schemes and grant programmes operated by my Department are governed by rules and eligibility criteria, which projects have to meet in order to qualify for funding.

In relation to the Deputies specific query, under the Young Peoples Facilities and Services Fund, which is administered by the Department, the standard conditions governing the provision of capital funding include the following:

The normal terms and conditions of the relevant Statutory Agency (generally the Local Authority) through whom the funding is channelled apply;

All projects must be able to demonstrate a clear focus on the target group of the YPFSF. To this end, there must be a clear policy of allowing access by the target group to all facilities. This is enforced, where appropriate, by the involvement of the Local Authorities and/or the VECs in the management structure. In the case of sports clubs and other organisations where Local Authorities or VECs are not directly involved in the management structure, the project must clearly demonstrate how the target group will be reached and quantify the extent of that access to the Statutory agency through whom the funding was channelled;

A schedule of access for the target group of the YPFSF is agreed in writing between the facility manager and the Local Development Group;

Project Promoters will be required to show that all initiatives are, where relevant, additional to and integrated with existing initiatives, particularly those funded by the Drugs Task Forces, and that the use of existing resources is maximised to the fullest extent possible;

As part of the normal terms and conditions all promoters will be required to show that their rules and actions are in compliance with current anti- discrimination legislation and that all facilities and equipment are accessible by people with disabilities.

My Department manages the Programme of Grants for Locally-Based Community and Voluntary Organisations which funds Refurbishment Grants for existing premises used by such groups. As the focus of this funding is providing moderate levels of once-off funding to local groups, no additional obligation is placed on the groups in terms of making their facilities more broadly available. However, the groups involved with this funding scheme are, in the main, broadly focused within their local communities and their premises would frequently be used for a wide range of community activities. Indeed the extent to which a proposal involves participation of the local community is one of the key criteria for the assessment of such applications.

My Department also provides grant assistance towards the building or refurbishment of Community Facilities in Gaeltacht areas, such as Community Centres, Sport Facilities and Irish Colleges. It is a condition of these grants that the facilities in question are made available to other community groups/committees at appropriate and agreed times. Similar conditions apply in the case of capital grant assistance that is provided for non-Gaeltacht islands.

The operating rules governing the delivery of the LEADER Programmes place no specific obligations on recipients of aid for sports clubs and community centres to make their facilities available to other community, voluntary and sporting groups, however recipients of funding are encouraged to do this.

As the Deputy will be aware my Department, in conjunction with the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism, provides co-funding to sports clubs and organisations under the RAPID and CLÁR Programmes. The terms and conditions of the Programme are set by that Department, and my department does not attach additional obligations on the recipient.

Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 354: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he will confirm that increased funding is being sought for the RAPID programme; if his attention has been drawn to the importance of RAPID to communities in Tallaght, Dublin 24 and elsewhere; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29458/07]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question 46 on 27 September 2007. As indicated in that and replies to other questions, it is a matter for individual Departments to prioritise projects under the RAPID programme that come within theirremit.

Subhead O of my Department's Vote provides for the capital costs of small projects in RAPID areas under a number of Leverage Schemes co-funded with other Departments and agencies and support for the RAPID Area Implementation Teams in the 46 RAPID areas. I am satisfied that the capital allocation of €7.8m is sufficient to meet the funding commitments I have approved for these schemes. I hope to in a position to offer new funding opportunities to RAPID areas as the Programme progresses and new demands are identified by the local AITs.

The Deputy will wish to note just under €2m has been committed to projects in the Tallaght RAPID areas under the Leverage Schemes of which €1.2m has already been paid to projects. Following the enactment of the Dormant Accounts (Amendment) Act 2005, further funding was ring-fenced to support priority projects in RAPID areas. Under the 2006 round of funding some €1.25m has been allocated to the Tallaght RAPID area.