Dec 3, 2012
Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Michael Ring has announced almost €26 million in new funding for local sports projects across the country, the first round of sports capital funding in four years.
Speaking at the announcement Minister Ring, said: ‘I am excited about the allocations being made today. These allocations will benefit people in every county by giving them more opportunities to get involved in sport, whatever their ability. This funding will allow a diverse array of sports clubs and groups to build and improve much-needed facilities, or to purchase sports equipment’.
The 2012 round of the Sports Capital Programme is the first round of the programme since 2008. New criteria were introduced for this year’s programme with a particular emphasis on clubs in disadvantaged areas.
Between 1998 and 2010, €140 per person was provided in sports capital funding across the country. However, the allocations to individual counties varied significantly. While the best performing county got €196 of sports funding on a per capita basis, other counties got only a little over half of that. Therefore on this occasion funding has been allocated on a per-capita basis to each county with a weighting for past performance.
A total of 2,170 applications were received, the highest number of applications ever received under the Programme. These applications sought a total of €229 million in funding. Further allocations of €4 million will be made to national and regional projects in the coming weeks.
The Sports Capital Programme is the Government’s main vehicle for supporting the development of sports facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment.
Main features of the 2012 Sports Capital Programme are:
- Total fund of €30 million available for allocation.
- Some clubs previously excluded were able to apply this year. For the first time clubs and organisations which do not own their land or do not have a long lease were able to apply for modest grants of up to €25,000 to upgrade facilities.
The allocations announced include funding for:
o Natural grass sports pitches, tracks and courts (including pitch drainage)
o Floodlighting
o Artificial sports pitches, tracks, courts and multi-use games areas
o Security fencing and ball stop netting
o Hurling walls / handball alleys
o Building or refurbishment of dressing rooms, showers and toilets
o Building or refurbishment of sports halls and gyms
o Non-personal sports equipment
o Shared facilities
o Any other capital projects that are clearly sporting in nature and that will increase participation in sport or improve performance
2012 Sports Capital Programme Funding per capita and funding 1998 – 2012
|
County
|
2012 Funding
|
Population 2011
|
2012 Funding per capita
|
Previous Programme Funding 1998 – 2011*
|
Funding per capita 98-11
|
|
Carlow
|
€371,600
|
54,612
|
€6.80
|
€5,628,896
|
€103
|
|
Cavan
|
€472,000
|
73,183
|
€6.45
|
€8,095,061
|
€111
|
|
Clare
|
€730,519
|
117,196
|
€6.23
|
€13,360,457
|
€114
|
|
Cork
|
€3,088,230
|
519,032
|
€5.95
|
€64,088,310
|
€123
|
|
Donegal
|
€840,058
|
161,137
|
€5.21
|
€29,557,895
|
€183
|
|
Dublin
|
€6,627,666
|
1,273,069
|
€5.21
|
€179,979,396
|
€141
|
|
Galway
|
€1,434,566
|
250,653
|
€5.72
|
€33,159,015
|
€132
|
|
Kerry
|
€742,057
|
145,502
|
€5.10
|
€28,581,444
|
€196
|
|
Kildare
|
€1,156,100
|
210,312
|
€5.50
|
€28,573,188
|
€136
|
|
Kilkenny
|
€596,777
|
95,419
|
€6.25
|
€10,856,663
|
€114
|
|
Laois
|
€502,150
|
80,559
|
€6.23
|
€9,167,265
|
€114
|
|
Leitrim
|
€180,188
|
31,798
|
€5.67
|
€5,421,698
|
€171
|
|
Limerick
|
€999,961
|
191,809
|
€5.21
|
€34,972,953
|
€182
|
|
Longford
|
€205,000
|
39,000
|
€5.26
|
€6,483,541
|
€166
|
|
Louth
|
€731,235
|
122,897
|
€5.95
|
€15,446,635
|
€126
|
|
Mayo
|
€777,293
|
130,638
|
€5.95
|
€17,293,768
|
€132
|
|
Meath
|
€1,252,117
|
184,135
|
€6.80
|
€18,900,121
|
€103
|
|
Monaghan
|
€342,736
|
60,483
|
€5.67
|
€9,597,311
|
€159
|
|
Offaly
|
€412,830
|
76,687
|
€5.38
|
€11,890,314
|
€155
|
|
Roscommon
|
€348,513
|
64,065
|
€5.44
|
€9,290,333
|
€145
|
|
Sligo
|
€340,914
|
65,393
|
€5.21
|
€11,595,887
|
€177
|
|
Tipperary
|
€854,623
|
158,754
|
€5.38
|
€24,208,320
|
€152
|
|
Waterford
|
€593,250
|
113,795
|
€5.21
|
€21,091,188
|
€185
|
|
Westmeath
|
€458,965
|
86,164
|
€5.33
|
€15,527,243
|
€180
|
|
Wexford
|
€905,825
|
145,320
|
€6.23
|
€16,532,845
|
€114
|
|
Wicklow
|
€929,149
|
136,640
|
€6.80
|
€13,972,012
|
€102
|
|
Total
|
€25,894,322
|
4,588,252
|
€5.64
|
€643,271,759
|
€140
|
Nov 30, 2012
Click the image to view the Annual Review
- Irish Sports Continue to Shine Brightly – but Strikes Cautious Note for the Future
- Decisions Today will have Real Impact by End of Decade
- Federation Highlights Potential of Sport in Vision 2020
- Innovative Funding methods Must be Considered
- Value of Sports Tourism Highlighted
- Call for Professional Body to Bid for Sports Tourism Projects
- Sport Could Play Major Role in Tackling Obesity Problems
Irish sport continues to be one of the few bright spots for Ireland in these difficult economic times. In a year that has seen Irish soccer feature once again at a major championship, Katie Taylor win Olympic Gold, our Paralympians take 16 medals at the London Games, Kilkenny continue their remarkable feats, Rory McIlroy win all around him and Irish rugby unveil a new and exciting generation of players, Irish sport has provided one of the few beacons of hope for the country.
At the same time sport cannot be taken for granted and decisions taken now could have a major negative impact in the future that could set Irish sport back decades. These are just a number of the key messages in this year’s annual Review of Irish Sport which has been published by the Federation of Irish Sport. The Review was launched earlier today, Friday, 30 November, 2012.
The Federation, which represents Ireland’s national sporting organisations, has been publishing an annual review since 2009. The main purpose of the Review is to remind key influencers of the positive power of sport in Ireland and also to ensure that the development and funding of sport remains a Government priority. As in previous years the Federation has used its Review not alone to warn against funding cuts but to also suggest ways in which changes in Government policy could be beneficial to the development of Irish sport and its funding.
In her review of the year Federation CEO, Sarah O’Connor, said that she was delighted to note that the Government had given a commitment to involve sport in next year’s Global Economic Forum. She said it was recognition of the very real contribution sport is today making to the Irish economy and to our reputation both at home and abroad.
She went on to say that the Federation and its members fully recognise the difficulties for Government funding for sport today and that she was felt it was even more essential that the Government be open to explore other ways of securing investment in sport. She said that now was not the time to make decisions on areas such as sports sponsorship by alcohol companies. She said that all the research that the Federation had undertaken pointed to the fact that there are little or no new sponsorship monies available in the marketplace. She said that whatever is done in the long-term nothing should be done in the short-term.
She also noted that sport had made a submission to the Government in relation to funding of amateur sport. “Amateur sport is at a distinct disadvantage to other areas of community and voluntary sector given that unlike them it doesn’t qualify for charitable status. There is therefore no incentive to give to sport in the same way that there are for other causes that are of public benefit.” She said that a change in the status of amateur sport could make a huge difference to sport in the short term.
She again noted the importance of volunteerism in Irish sports. She said that without the 500,000 plus volunteers that are involved in Irish sport every year that it would simply cease to function. She said it was all too easy to forget that there is a real economic value on such volunteering and the value to sport is of the order of €350 million a year.
In conclusion she also noted the fact that sport was committed to being part of The Gathering in 2013. She believed that sports tourism, as evidenced by such events as the US Football match in Dublin and the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway could be of huge benefit in the re-building of the country. She appealed to the Government to set up a specialist agency, along similar lines to that in Denmark, to bid for sports events. She noted that Sport Event Denmark was now successful in two out of every three bids it made.
The Future of Irish Sport
As part of this year’s Review the Federation asked a number of experts in the sporting area to look ahead to the year 2020 with a view to seeing what sport could be like for the country if it were given the right support. There was remarkable consistency among many of those asked and the key findings as to what they would like to see sport looking at in 2020 were as follows:
- One single State entity to deal with all sport, bringing together the old Irish Sports Council, the National Sports Campus Development Authority, Coaching Ireland and the Irish Institute of Sport. The new entity to have control over all elements of sport including high performance NGB grants, the sports capital budget and also to be involved in all decisions relating to sport and health and sports tourism.
- Recognition of sport as a cornerstone for the improvement of Irish Society and increased co-operation between all Government Departments having an impact on sport
- Charitable status for amateur sport to help free up new streams of revenue.
- Monies from taxes raised from the betting industry to be shared across all sports.
- The setting up of a single agency to bid for international sports events.
- Sport to be used as a vehicle to improve the health of the nation. Only this week a new study showed that obesity/overweight is costing the island of Ireland €1.65 billion a year.
- The completion of the National Sports Campus.
- Ireland having a high performance system that matches the very best in the world
- All schools having physical education as part of their curriculum.
- Greater involvement of women in sport throughout all of their lives
- Ireland hosting the Rugby World Cup 2023.
Nov 30, 2012
Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, was answering parliamentary questions on November27th. A number of issues relating to sport were raised including the Sports Capital Programme, tax relief in respect of donations to sporting bodies and philanthropy and sport. The Federation has summarised the responses given by Minister Vardakar.
The questions put to Minister Vardkar in relation to sport came from a variety of T.D’s in particular, Sinn Féin T.D.’s and related in the main, to the Sports Capital Prgoramme. However, the issues of charitable status, tax relief on donations to sporting bodies and philanthropy were also raised. Fianna Fáil spokesperson on sport, Timothy Dooley also concentrated on the current round of the Sports Capital Programme and in particular the criteria being used to assess the applications.
Sports Capital Programme
In relation to the Sports Capital Programme, Minister Varadkar confirmed:
- A total of 2,170 applications were received seeking €229 million in grant funding in total in respect of project valued at €347 million.
- Of the €30 million available €26 million will be allocated to local projects, while €4 million will be allocated to regional/national projects. In doing so he made reference to the fact that some National Governing Bodies would rather the emphasis initially would be on national or regional facilities rather than local and that there were strong arguments in favour of this approach. However, for the moment the scheme is set up with the emphasis on local facilities.
- Funding will be allocated on a per capita basis with a weighting to redress any imbalance in previous rounds of the Programme. Minister Varadkar also confirmed that two criteria had been added since the previous scheme in 2008 namely, the sharing of facilities and the receipt of previous government funding with priority being given to those who had not received such assistance previously. In respect of national or regional facilities four additional criteria would also apply being priority as identified by the relevant National Governing Body of Sport, the priority as identified by the Irish Sports Council, the location of the facility in the network of national and regional facilities and in the case of municipal multi-sport facilities only, linkages with the Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme.
- He confirmed that there would be bonus points given to applicants who were proposing to share facilities.
- There were a significant number of ineligible applications in the main because of the failure to produce satisfactory evidence of the ability to procure the required 15% co-funding
- The announcement regarding the grants awarded will issue after the budget and successful applicants will have two years in which to draw down the funds.
- Notifications of grant applications will be issued after the budget and in this year; organisations will have two years to draw down fund.
- It was the government’s intention to run a second round of the Programme in 2015 that he and Minister Ring were exploring bringing it forward but no decision had been made as yet.
- In response to a question as to whether the sale of the Lotto would impact on future rounds of the Programme, Minister Varadkar simply stated that the sale was a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure but that he could confirm that it would be sold with the proceeds going to the Children’s Hospital provided planning permission was secured.
Tax Relief
The Federation earlier this year made a submission to the Department in respect of the extension of the current tax relief in place on donations to sporting bodies in respect of “capital projects” to “non-capital” projects. This issue together with whether sporting bodies should be allowed gain charitable status was raised. Minister Varadkar responded by saying he felt it was important that sporting organisations secure additional sources of revenue, including private donations. He said that he felt the current relief in place was restrictive in that it applied to donations in respect of capital projects only. However, Minister Varadkar said that the amendment of taxation legislation was one for the Minister for Finance and that he had written to him in October regarding possible amendments that would allow tax relief in respect of non-capital donations to sporting bodies.
Philanthropy
Minister Varadkar mentioned that he had made a number approaches to companies and individuals regarding funding for specific projects, at the sports campus or coaching programmes but had little success to date. He stated that it was something he would continue to work on.
Nov 30, 2012
The Federation of Irish Sport made a written submission to Ministers Varadkar & Ring in relation to the treatment of sport in the upcoming budget on December 5th. The Federation made clear its view that sport has a key role to play in improving Irish society.
The specific issues highlighted by the Federation in its submission were:
- Welcoming the inclusion of sport in the Global Economic Forum to be held in 2013
- The need to protect future funding of the Irish Sports Council (“ISC”) and that it is our contention that there should be no further reduction to ISC funding after the anticipated additional 5% cut for 2013
- The protection of current funding opportunities for sport and in particular, there should be no further discussion on the issue of introducing a ban on alcohol sponsorship of sporting events for 3 years
- The need to identify and develop additional revenue streams for sport
- The extension of the current tax relief on donations to sporting bodies from capital projects as it exists at present to “non-capital” projects
- The development of a Vision or Masterplan for Irish Sport
A copy of our submission letter to Ministers Varadkar and Ring can be viewed here.
Nov 29, 2012
The Federation has for the last four years been spreading the gospel that sport does so much more for Ireland than just sport. A number of different pieces of research published over the last few weeks appear to bear that out confirming the role of sport and physical activity in Irish society including, the impact on consumer spending, exercise levels in young people and the continuing obesity challenge.
An analysis of consumer spending on Visa cards, shows that Irish consumer spending on sport between May & September was €85.9 million. The analysis conducted by Visa Europe tracked spending across a range of categories such as the amount spent in sporting goods and bicycle stores, summer sports camps and membership fees for sports clubs and gyms.
In total there were just over one million sports related transactions in Ireland over the summer, with an average value of €84.39 per transaction. Sales spiked in August with transactions in a number of categories rising during the month. Sales in bicycle shops rose by 8.1% and purchases in sporting goods stores spiked by 24.9% in August alone. Sport impacting on the economy.
Meanwhile, an analysis by Mediaworks shows consumer confidence increased over the three summer months something they are attributing to the increase in optimism due to the bumper summer of sport which of course included Ireland’s successes at the Olympic & Paralympic Games as well as the country’s appearance in a European Football Championship Finals for the first time since 1988. Sport growing optimism may well have a positive impact on the economic recovery.
The latest results from the Growing Up in Ireland Study show that, in general, children take reasonably high levels of exercise. The study did find however that children from affluent backgrounds tend to take more exercise than others. However, despite this positive finding the report also states that excess weight and obesity continue to be a problem for young people and is on the increase. The study states that there is a strong link between physical activity rates and excess weight and stresses the importance of developing positive habits in young people as they tend to carry over into adulthood.
The key findings of the study in relation to physical activity and obesity were:
- 60% of 13-year-olds exercised 6 or more days in the last 14 days
- Boys were more likely to exercise than girls.
- 26% of young peoplewere either overweight or obese at 13 years – 20% were overweight and 6% obese.
- Girls were more likely to be overweight or obese than boys (30% vs. 23%).
- Relatively few (11%) non-overweight 9 year olds had developed weight problems by the age of 13. However, those with weight problems at 9 years of age tended to maintain them. Just over half who were overweight at 9 remained overweight at 13 with 11% becoming obese.
- Girls were more likely than boys to maintain weight problems.
- Children with weight issues were trying to do something about it – 78% of children who were obese were exercising to lose weight (compared to 39% of those who were not overweight or obese).
The full report can be read here.
Meanwhile, a report from Safefood funded research put the cost of excess weight and obesity on the island Ireland at an estimated €1.64 billion with €1.3 billion attributable to the Republic of Ireland. The study, conducted by University College Cork found that in the Republic of Ireland, 35% of total costs (€398 million) represented direct healthcare costs for example, hospital in-patient; out-patient; GP and drug costs. However, two thirds (65%) of the economic costs were indirect costs in reduced or lost productivity and absenteeism and amounted to €728 million.
The full report can be read here.
