Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 243: To ask the Minister for Finance the way the national lottery funding is apportioned; if he will express, as a percentage, the amount each area receives in each of the past ten years in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37400/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Under Section 5 of the National Lottery Act, 1986, the surplus from the National Lottery may be used for: Sport and other recreation; national culture (including the Irish language); arts (within the meaning of the Arts Act, 1951); health of the community; and for such other purposes as the Government may determine. The following additional categories have been so determined: youth, welfare, national heritage, and amenities. 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 percentage of National Lottery funding which was spent on each of the categories is as follows:

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. Therefore, the relevant subheads in the various Votes for subsequent years include both National Lottery and Exchequer funding. In the years 2005 to 2009, National Lottery funding as a percentage of total expenditure under such subheads was as follows: