Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 89: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the support given to shared ownership schemes as evidenced by the joint bid by the Football Association of Ireland and the Irish Rugby Football Union to develop Lansdowne Road; if Government support systems such as the sports capital programme prioritise shared ownership schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17669/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The decision by the Government to provide financial assistance for the development of the new stadium at Lansdowne Road was in response to a joint proposal from the IRFU and the FAI. As the ownership of the stadium was not, and is not, jointly shared between the IRFU and the FAI, that particular aspect did not form part of the Government's consideration of the proposal.

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.

Since 1998 the Programme has allocated over €675 million to over 6,700 projects. This investment has transformed the sporting landscape of Ireland and has allowed the development of sports facilities across the length and breath of the country. These facilities have dramatically increased the opportunities for all people to engage in a wide variety of sports.

While the Sports Capital Programme does not give any priority to jointly owned facilities, the Programme has given very generous funding to multi-sports facilities that accommodate a number of different sports in one integrated venue. Under the 2007 programme, over €5m was allocated to large municipal multi-sport facilities. When the amount allocated to community based local multi-sport facilities is added to this, over €15m was allocated last year alone to multi-sport facilities. This is against a backdrop of sustained sports capital investment in this sector since 1998. In the period 1998-2007, sports capital funding of over €126 million was allocated to community and municipal multi-sport projects. These projects include sports facilities built by local authorities, community sports facilities and multi-sport clubs.