Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 366: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the timeframe for the review of sports facilities and the national audit of local facilities; when it will report; and if the situation regarding organisations being able to drawn down lottery funding being dependent on having a long term lease will be amended. [32521/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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As I have previously informed the House, the nationwide audit of sports facilities has commenced and is being carried out in stages to help speed up the availability of information. Phase One, which focuses on national and regional sports facilities, has now been completed within my Department. A database of sports facilities of national or regional significance has been compiled including details of facilities at third level educational institutions and swimming pools. Phase Two of the audit, which will commence shortly, is a more complex undertaking to establish a record of existing sports facilities at local level and identify the need for future provision.

The audit is part of a wider exercise to put in place a more strategic approach to the provision of sports facilities in Ireland. Work on the National Sports Facility Strategy is now underway with the assistance of a firm of consultants involving both national and international experts in the area of sports facilities. The aim of the strategy is to provide high-level policy direction for future investment/grant assistance at national, regional and local level. It is intended to identify the facilities requirement for sport so that participation at reasonable cost is feasible for those who wish to engage in sport at either amateur or elite level.

A key objective in relation to the preparation of the National Sports Facility Strategy is to ensure consistency on a nationwide basis in relation to the completion of the audit facility so that inter-regional planning can be undertaken. With this in mind, the preparation of a guidance pack and audit toolkit for use by Local Authorities and /or Local Sports Partnerships to assist them in carrying out local audit has been prioritised as part of the Sports Facility Strategy. This element of the strategy will greatly help in the completion of the audit and the compilation of a comprehensive database on the range and nature of sporting facilities at national, regional and local level.

The Sports Capital Programme is the primary means of providing Government funding to sport and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. It has operated on an annual basis and is part funded from National Lottery funds.

A total of €568m has been allocated in sports capital funding since 1998 to 6,716 sports projects across the country. Additionally over €107m in capital funding has been provided towards the redevelopment of Croke Park. In 2007 €85m was allocated towards 935 separate projects.

The Programme, as it currently operates, requires that applicants either own the site or premises of the proposed facility or that they hold it under a lease of at least twenty-two years, with at least fifteen years remaining on the lease. Primarily, this condition is to ensure that the sporting organisation is in a position to make a commitment that the grant-aided facility will remain in sporting use for a significant period.

In addition, it is necessary because grantees in receipt of funding over a specified level must enter into a Deed of Covenant and Charge in order to protect the Minister's interest and ensure that the property remains in sporting use. This places a charge on the grantee's property and in this regard, my Department is advised by the Chief State Solicitor's Office (CCSO) that a lease of twenty-one years is required in law to create a legal estate capable of supporting a charge. However, where a lease is required to be registered in the Property Registration Authority, and a solicitor fails to register the lease in time and part of the twenty-one year term then expires, the Property Registration Authority will not register the lease, and the charge that is required cannot be secured.

It is to ensure, therefore, that the lease may be registered within the timeframe required, so that the charge can be secured, that my Department, acting on the advice of the CSSO, has requested a lease of not less than twenty-two years. In this regard, it provides a safeguard for organisations that apply for capital funding under the Sports Capital Programme.

These stipulations apply to new unregistered leases only, as existing registered leases of twenty-one years or more are capable of supporting a charge. In such instances, the applicant must provide evidence that the lease has been registered with the Property Registration Authority with a minimum of 15 years remaining.

I should point out to the Deputy that this condition does not apply if the application is for equipment only.