Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 47: To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of the funding given towards the Irish Sports Council and the Arts Council which comes from the National Lottery; if he will express this figure as a percentage of the total funding in respect of the years 2006, 2007 and 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2253/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The position in relation to National Lottery funding is that receipts from the sale of National Lottery tickets are deposited in the National Lottery Fund in the Central Bank. A portion of these funds is transferred by my Department into the Exchequer over the course of each year on the basis of the projected surplus for that year. The moneys transferred into the Exchequer are entered as non-tax revenue and, as such, form part of the general pool of revenue out of which expenditure is financed.

Since 2005, the total allocation for subheads which had formerly been funded entirely from the proceeds of the National Lottery has exceeded the funds available from the National Lottery. The total amount of funding is determined in the Estimates process, and is paid out of the general pool of revenue of which National Lottery proceeds form part. Subheads that prior to 2005 were exclusively funded by National Lottery funds are now funded by a combination of National Lottery and Exchequer funding, the total amounts vary from subhead to subhead depending on the outcome of the Estimates process. It is not, therefore, possible to indicate the percentage of Lottery funding which was included in the allocations provided in 2006, 2007 and 2008 for subheads that are partly funded by the National Lottery including the Irish Sports Council and the Arts Council. Funds from the National Lottery as a percentage of the total allocation for all subheads which are part-funded by the proceeds of the National Lottery amounted to 56% in 2006, 52% in 2007 and 57% in 2008.

Under the legislation, the allocation of funding among the categories is a matter for the Government. There is no specific formula for the allocation of funding among categories. The Government decides on an annual basis how the surplus from the National Lottery is to be allocated in the context of the overall Estimates process.

The allocation for the Irish Sports Council in the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 as a percentage of total expenditure on subheads part-funded by the National Lottery is as follows:

The allocation for the Arts Council in the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 as a percentage of total expenditure on subheads part-funded by the National Lottery is as follows:

Funds from the National Lottery as a percentage of the total allocation for all subheads which are part-funded by the proceeds of the National Lottery is as follows: