Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 17: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will favourably consider and commit grant aid from the proceeds of the national lottery through the programmes administered by his Department to communities attempting to combat anti-social behaviour and social or economic deprivation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10998/08]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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A number of capital programmes administered by my Department are targeted at disadvantaged areas and play a significant role in combating anti social behaviour. Under the Sports Capital Programme, which is administered by my Department, funding is allocated to sporting and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. The 2008 programme was advertised on 13th and 14th of January and the deadline for receipt of applications was 29th February for paper-based applications and 7th March for on-line applications.

One of the stated aims and objectives of the sports capital programme is to prioritise the needs of disadvantaged areas in the provision of facilities. Since 2002, those areas that have been designated by Government for special support through the schemes administered by Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, i.e. RAPID, Local Drugs Task Force (LDTF) and CLÁR areas are treated as disadvantaged under the programme. Projects identified as being located in areas designated as disadvantaged are targeted and prioritised in a number of ways during the assessment of applications. They are permitted to have a lower level of minimum own funding available towards their project and extra marks are also awarded to such projects during the assessment process by the application of socioeconomic disadvantage criterion. Indeed under the 2008 Sports Capital Programme, I was happy to reduce the level of own funding required by applicants from RAPID and Local Drugs Task Force areas to 10% from 20%. This is in line with the commitment in the Programme for Government.

Successful projects under the Sports Capital Programme in CLÁR and RAPID areas may also qualify to receive top-up funding, payable by the Department of Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, in addition to their sports capital allocation. In the case of projects located in CLÁR areas, this top-up funding can be up to 20% of the sports capital grant amount; in the case of projects located in RAPID areas which are also endorsed by their local Area Implementation Team, the top-up funding can be up to 30%. For the Deputy's information, under the 2007 programme grants totalling €38,679,550 were allocated to 455 projects in disadvantaged areas. To date, my colleague the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has announced top-ups for qualifying grantees of €6,412,510.

Under the ACCESS scheme (arts and culture capital enhancement support scheme) my Department provides capital grants for the provision of arts and cultural infrastructure nationwide. One of the stated objectives of the Governments Arts Policy is to encourage and support the strategic development of the arts in local communities, both geographic and communities of interest, for the disadvantaged and for minority groups. In 2007 grants to the value of €32m were awarded to projects. Under the Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme my Department provides capital grants to Local Authorities for the construction of new swimming pools or for the refurbishment of existing ones. A total of €27.8m was expended under this programme in 2007. I am satisfied that through these capital programmes opportunities exist for the provision of a range of arts and sporting facilities, with special emphasis on areas of disadvantage, which can have a major impact in combating anti-social behaviour.