Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)

I will take this debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Deputy Mary Hanafin. I thank the Senator for raising this issue; he knows how interested I am in sport. Given the benefits associated with sporting activities, the Government regards expenditure on sport as important for the social and economic development of the country. These benefits arise in a wide range of areas including health and wellbeing, social and cultural development, education, personal development, tourism and the economy. It can also play a valuable role in tackling social exclusion and this is particularly true for young people.

The sports capital programme, which is part funded from the proceeds of the national lottery, is the primary means of granting Government support for the provision of sports facilities at national, regional and local level. It would be no exaggeration to state the programme has been of benefit to communities the length and breadth of the country.

Under the sports capital programme, the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport provides funding to voluntary, sporting and community organisations for the provision of sports and recreational facilities. More than 7,400 projects have now benefited from sports capital funding since 1998, bringing the total allocations in that time to more than €738 million. The programme has, in the past ten years, transformed the sporting landscape with improvements in the quality and quantity of sporting facilities in every part of the country. The facilities funded range from the smallest clubs to national centres of sporting excellence.

The aims and objectives of the programme are to foster an integrated and planned approach to the development of sports and physical recreation facilities throughout the country; to assist voluntary and community organisations to develop high-quality, safe, well-designed, accessible and sustainable facilities in appropriate locations to help maximise participation in sport and physical recreation; to prioritise the needs of disadvantaged areas in the provision of sports facilities; and to encourage the multi-purpose use of local, regional and national sports facilities by clubs, community organisations and national governing bodies of sport.

The programme has supported the provision or improvement of landmark national and regional stadia such as Thomond Park and Semple Stadium. Such facilities provide a platform for our most talented athletes to perform, which in turn inspires new generations of young people to aspire to match the sporting prowess of their heroes. They are also an important part of our tourism industry as they draw visitors domestically and from Britain, Europe and further afield, who come to follow their teams in action. For example, since it opened in November 2008, Thomond Park has welcomed more than 640,000 spectators through its doors to sporting and non-sporting events. The overall economic impact of events hosted at Thomond Park stadium in this period has been estimated to be approximately €131 million for Limerick city and region.

Senators will be aware of the many benefits that derive from the programme in their locality. They have no doubt witnessed the value of the programme in assisting local clubs in meeting the sporting needs of their areas and in targeting clubs in areas of social disadvantage. By doing this, the Government is supporting the provision of facilities where there may be little prospect of such facilities being provided by the communities acting alone. These facilities provide an opportunity for participation in sport which leads to healthier lifestyles and a reduced likelihood of younger people drifting into anti-social behaviour.

It is a common misconception that the programme has been discontinued. The programme is in fact very active with €48 million provided by the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport in 2010 to cover the payment of grants. This funding will allow more than 1,000 payments to be made to sports clubs and community groups in every county.

Given the current budgetary situation and the high level of outstanding commitments it was considered prudent to pause prior to announcing the next round of the programme and accordingly no date has been set for the next round of the programme.