Written answers

Thursday, 8 May 2008

Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism

Sports Capital Programme

5:00 pm

Photo of Tom HayesTom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 303: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will intervene in the case of a group (details supplied) in County Tipperary who were approved for a grant under the 2007 sports capital programme. [17880/08]

Photo of Martin CullenMartin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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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 position is that under the Sports Capital Programme, 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. To date, €260,000, which includes a Clar top-up grant of €30,000, has been allocated to this group and a Deed of Covenant and Charge is currently being drafted to cover this amount.

The grantees now wish to take out a loan for €160,000 and the bank in question also wish to place a legal charge on the grantee's property. The ranking of charges placed on a grantee's land is regulated by means of a Priority Agreement. In such situations it is my Department's established practice to seek a valuation of the lands in question from the grantees, so that it may determine whether the property may bear the burden of the combined charges.

In this instance the bank wishes their charge to rank first in priority. The valuation provided by the grantees, however, estimates the land's value as being €260,000, which means that the combined value of the prospective bank loan and cumulative grant allocations is significantly in excess of the current valuation. The Department has been requested to rank second on the Priority Agreement.

You will appreciate that serious consideration must be given to this matter. In this regard, the Department plans to respond through the CSSO to the grantee's solicitors in the near future.

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