Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 173: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his plans regarding the sports capital grant scheme; if he will renew the sports capital grant scheme; or if he will replace it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39785/09]

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 174: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the way the sports capital grant scheme is funded; if the programme is funded from the profits generated by the national lottery; if so, the location to which the money generated in 2009 has gone in view of the fact that the sports capital grant scheme was suspended for 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39786/09]

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 175: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the outcome for groups which have, or have partially, invested in projects dependant on income from the sports capital grant scheme; if the groups that drew up a development plan prior to the suspension of the sports capital grant scheme will be awarded the grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39787/09]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 173 to 175, inclusive, together.

Under the Sports Capital Programme, which is administered by my Department, and part funded from the proceeds of the National Lottery, funding is allocated to sporting and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. Since 1998, over €725 million has been allocated to over 7,400 projects across the country. No new applications for funding have been sought in 2009 and no decision has been made on the timing of the next round of the Programme. However, €56 million has been provided in my Department's vote in the 2009 Estimates to cover payments to be made from the C1 subhead, out of which grants are paid for the provision of sports and recreation facilities and all of this money be spent before the end of the year. The corresponding figure for 2008 was €58m.

With over €175m in outstanding grant at the start of 2009 it has been business as usual for all grantees allocated funding under previous rounds of the Programme this year. By close of business on Friday 30 October over 1,330 payments had been approved with a total value of over €49m. It is the intention to meet existing commitments made to grantees under the Programme subject to their compliance with the relevant criteria required for the payment.

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. The distribution of the proceeds of the National Lottery is a matter for the Minister for Finance.

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 176: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism further to Parliamentary Question No. 389 of 20 October 2009, the process and procedure that applies when an application is made for a grant under the sports capital programme; if the sports capital programme is now closed for the foreseeable future; the duties of those persons previously engaged in the administration of the programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39828/09]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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All applications received before the Sports Capital Programme deadline are assessed according to the Programme's assessment criteria as outlined in the terms and conditions of the programme. These criteria, which are issued with application forms, can be summarised as follows:

the extent to which projects increase active participation and result in improved standards of sport especially in disadvantaged areas;

the financial viability of the project; and

the need to achieve an equitable spread geographically and across different sports and community groups.

In addition, projects identified as being located in areas designated as disadvantaged, or as serving disadvantaged areas, are targeted and prioritised. A scoring system is employed which allocates marks to each application consistent with the extent to which it meets the assessment criteria. Different weighting is attached to the various criteria depending on their importance. All applications must fulfil certain minimum terms and conditions to qualify for a score.

The applications are divided into two categories for assessment - local and non-local i.e. national, regional and municipal-multisport. For local projects, the level of funding to each county is on the basis of a pro-rata distribution of the available funding on the basis of the population as set out in the most recent census of population. All local applications from an individual county are assessed by one member of staff to ensure a consistent approach to applications from the county concerned. These assessments are then subject to quality proofing by more senior officers to the officer which conducted the initial assessment. Applications which meet the basic qualifying conditions each receive a score, which decides their order of priority within their own county.

In cases where a sufficient number of eligible projects is not received from a county, any excess funding is typically distributed pro-rata among counties that have an excess of eligible projects. Non-local projects are assessed on additional criteria such as the location of the proposed facility within the network of national, regional, municipal facilities and linkages with the Department's Local Authority Swimming Pools Programme. Following completion of the assessment process, a list of recommended allocations is submitted to the Minister for approval. Both the assessment of applications and the payment of allocations under the Sports Capital Programme is subject to inspection by my Department's capital inspection unit, internal audit section (which examines certain sections of the Department each year) and externally by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

No new applications for funding have been sought in 2009 and no decision has been made on the timing of the next round of the Programme. However, €56 million has been provided in my Department's vote in the 2009 Estimates to cover payments to be made from the C1 subhead, out of which grants are paid for the provision of sports and recreation facilities and all of this money be spent before the end of the year. The corresponding figure for 2008 was €58m.

With over €175m in outstanding grant at the start of 2009 it has been business as usual for all grantees allocated funding under previous rounds of the Programme this year. By close of business on Friday 30 October over 1,330 payments had been approved with a total value of over €49m.

The section dealing with sports capital grants also has responsibility for other sports capital projects such as the Local Authority Swimming Pools Programme, the Tax Relief for Donations to Certain Sports Bodies scheme and the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road Stadium. The staffing complement in the section dealing with Sports Capital grants has been reduced during the last 12 months.