Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 41: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the progress on the review of the sports capital programme; when the review will be completed; if he is accepting submissions for the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32336/09]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Since 1998, through the Sports Capital Programme, the Government has invested over €725 million in over 7,400 separate sporting projects. This investment has transformed the Irish sporting landscape with improved facilities in virtually every village, town and city. The facilities funded range from basic sports facilities and new equipment for the smallest clubs, to regional integrated multi-sport centres and national centres of sporting excellence.

This investment is evidence of the importance that this Government places on sport. Sports facilities that are well-planned, built and managed have the ability to act as focal points for a community and allow more people to get involved in healthy activities. Participation in sport is important for many reasons. For individuals, participation has health benefits, builds confidence and gives people a sense of their worth. For society as a whole, sport can reduce anti-social behaviour while sporting success has the ability to lift the spirits of whole counties and even the whole country.

Work on the National Sports Facilities Strategy, which will provide an improved policy platform for any future rounds of the Programme, is at an advanced stage of preparation in my Department. It is my intention to publish the strategy once it has been completed and considered by the Government.

Following a request by the Department of Arts Sport & Tourism for input into the National Sports Facilities Strategy from interested parties, 55 written submissions were received. These submissions varied a great deal in their length, level of representation and perspective.

The largest number of submissions (29) were from public sector groups such as VEC's, Local Sports Partnerships and City and County Councils who put forward their view points regarding the strategy. The second largest number (12) came from National Governing Bodies of Sport. A number came from individuals (9) who either had a stake in the outcome of the strategy or had an interest in a particular aspect of sport in Ireland and sports clubs (5) also made submissions which related to the sport participated by the club.