Written answers

Tuesday, 9 June 2009

Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism

Sport and Recreational Development

8:00 pm

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 424: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the extent to which he will target areas of social deprivation in the context of provision of grants for major sporting and recreational facilities in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22445/09]

Photo of Martin CullenMartin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is currently finalising a five-year strategic plan to inform the future development of necessary sporting facilities throughout the country. The aim of the strategy is to provide high-level policy direction for future investment and grant assistance at national, regional and local level. The strategy also identifies the wider economic, health and social case for continued investment in sports facilities. It aims to prioritise areas for future investment and to ensure continued impact in the relevant areas. The strategy will also take into account the results of the National Audit of Sports Facilities, which is ongoing at the moment.

The National Sports Facilities Strategy will address future sports facility funding and provision and will inform future rounds of the Sports Capital Programme. One of the stated aims and objectives of the existing 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 RAPID areas may also qualify to receive top-up funding of up to 30% of their Sports Capital allocation, payable by the Department of Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, in addition to their sports capital allocation.

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