Hundreds of highly-rated sports projects around the
country are missing out on funding under the government’s Sports Capital
Programme because of strict rules that grants are distributed to counties on a
per capita basis.
An analysis by The Times of how €56 million was
distributed under the 2017 Sports Capital Programme by Shane Ross, the minister
for transport, tourism and sport, in November highlights how Dublin-based
sports clubs were the major beneficiaries of the scheme.
Sports clubs based in the capital received
substantially bigger grants and higher percentages of their requested funding
than organisations in other parts of the country, despite frequently scoring
lower marks in a rating system designed to establish the merits of individual
projects.
Robert Troy, the Fianna Fáil transport, tourism and
sports spokesman, has called for refinement of the current rules on the scheme
to redress the imbalance between sports clubs in Dublin and outside the
capital.
“While there is an element of fairness in allocating
funds on a per capita basis, it can act against some clubs who can make top
class applications but only get a portion of the money they need,” Mr Troy
said. “Under the existing rules, Dublin will always benefit. In many cases,
clubs in the rest of Ireland need to be provided with additional funding to be able
to catch up. They’re also likely to have fewer people to help with
fundraising.”
Only two out of 33 of clubs awarded the maximum amount
of €150,000 came from outside Dublin. A
total of 150 applicants had sought grants of €150,000.
Only three of the 31 clubs based in Dublin which
secured the maximum grant would have made it into the top 30 of applicants
seeking €150,000 if judged solely on merit.
The analysis reveals applicants from Dublin received
an average grant of €61,365 or 95 per cent of their requested funding compared
to an average of €28,371 or 46 per cent of requested funding for clubs in the
rest of the country.
Unlike previous years, the 2017 Sports Capital Programme
awarded some level of funding to all applicants who met minimum eligibility
criteria.
Mr Troy accused the government of “trying to spread
the butter to please everyone.” He
added: “It might look well. However, there’s little point in giving a club only
a fraction of what they need as it just puts greater pressure on them to raise
funds.”
The Longford-Westmeath TD cited how one of his local
clubs, Rosemount GAA club near Moate, was only awarded €6,500 out of its
application for over €120,000. “It’s not going to make much of a difference,”
he said.
A total of 1,726 clubs and organisations received over
€55.8 million in funding. Applications were assessed using a scoring system
which had a maximum of 87 points.
Marks are awarded under a weighting system designed to
favour projects that will increase participation, are from disadvantaged areas,
are from organisations that have not received significant funding in the past
and that are most likely to proceed quickly.
Marks are also awarded for sports clubs that will
share their facilities with other groups, their ability to provide some of
their own funding and the technical merits of a project.
Two sports clubs – St Oliver Plunkett/Eoghan Ruadh GAA
club and Castleknock Celtic football club which are both located in the Dublin
West constituency of Leo Varadkar, the taoiseach – received the full amount they
requested of €80.000 and €23,295 respectively despite only scoring 20 points –
the third joint lowest score in the entire country.
In contrast, Knockanure GAA club in Co Kerry had the
joint highest score of all 1,726 applicants with 82 points but received only
€56,000 out of its requested sum of €100,865 to fund the drainage and
resurfacing of its pitch.
The analysis shows applicants from Dublin scored on average
40 points – the lowest average of any of the 26 counties – but still received
the highest level of requested funding.
Sports bodies from Co Meath – which has the highest
average score of almost 50 points – were only granted 48 per cent of the money they
had requested.
On average, clubs based in Cavan and Monaghan only
received 29 per cent of the amount of funding they had sought – the lowest of
any region.
The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport said
funding under the Sports Capital Programme was allocated to each county on a
per capita basis with each applications subject to “a rigorous assessment
process.”
“Given the high population and relatively low number
of applications from Dublin, Dublin applications did receive higher levels of
amount sought,” it said.
While grants were distributed fairly on a per capita
basis to each county, a spokesman for Mr Ross said there were insufficient
valid projects in Dublin to absorb all the funding to which the county was
entitled.
As a result, a surplus of €2.9 million that should
have been allocated to Dublin was redistributed to other counties.
“As the funding for each county was ring-fenced,
projects were only competing against other projects from the same county,” he
added.
Out of over 50 different sports to benefit from the
programme GAA clubs secured €23.6 million followed by soccer clubs with €7.3
million and rugby clubs with €3.2 million. Sports bodies including council and
community groups offering multiple sports facilities were granted €8.7 million
in funding.
A spokesman for Mr Ross said it was originally envisaged
that only €30 million would be available to allocate when the 2017 scheme was
launched. Due to the record number of applicants, however, additional funding
was secured.
“It was decided that every valid local application
should receive the offer of some funding with the aim of advancing the maximum
number of projects and helping to alleviate a backlog of projects looking for
assistance under the Sports Capital Programme,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman said neither Mr Ross nor Brendan
Griffin, his junior minister, made any changes to the recommended allocations
proposed by their officials.
Sean Sherlock, Labour’s spokesman on children and
youth affairs, said he would like to see a change to the rule to allow further
marks in favour of clubs from “socially deprived areas.”
ANALYSIS
On face value the allocation by the Department of
Transport, Tourism and Sport of millions of euro in sports grants to each
county on a per capita basis would seem very fair.
In most circumstances, the distribution of government
funds based strictly on the population of each of the 26 counties would seem
eminently equitable.
However, an analysis by The Times of how €56 million
was distributed in the latest round of the Sports Capital Programme last
November highlights an anomaly that arises out of a rigid adherence to rules
stipulating allocations must are made on a per capita basis.
It revealed that sports clubs in Dublin receive bigger
grants than any of their rural counterparts.
On average, applicants from Dublin received a grant of €61,365 compared
to €28,371 for clubs in the rest of Ireland.
So far, so good. As the most populous county, Dublin is
rightly entitled to the highest portion of funding under the terms of the
scheme.
But given that many sports clubs in the capital are
already highly developed with access to large numbers of members to engage in
voluntary fundraising in contrast to clubs in smaller towns and villages, does
the scheme only reinforce, even widen, the gap that can exist between urban and
rural clubs?
The analysis of how over 1,700 applicants fared also
shows that clubs in Dublin received a higher percentage of the money they had
sought than their rural counterparts.
Clubs in Dublin were awarded 95 per cent of the
allocation they had requested compared to just 46 per cent for clubs in other
counties.
In Dublin 182 out of 208 applicants received 100 per
cent of the grant they had requested.
Only five other clubs in the rest of Ireland were awarded the full
amount they had sought.
The explanation for such an anomaly is the relatively
few applications which were submitted from clubs in Dublin.
According to the Department of Transport, Tourism and
Sport, there was an application for every 4,700 people in the capital compared
to one for every 1,700 people on average for the rest of the country.
Where unfairness emerges is that the department also
uses a scoring system to rate the merits of individual projects. Marks are awarded for a number of criteria
including if clubs share their facilities with other organisations, if they
increase participation in sports, are from disadvantaged areas and if they’ve
not received significant funding in previous rounds of the scheme.
The unfairness of the current system is exposed by the
fact that Dublin clubs recorded the lowest average score of any of the 26
counties.
Many applicants in other counties, with well-presented
and highly regarded projects, were only given a fraction of the money they
needed. In contrast many Dublin clubs, which were not particularly well rated,
got full funding for projects.
Furthermore, all applicants who met minimum
eligibility criteria last November received some level of funding unlike other
years when there was an “all or nothing” approach adopted.
Again while it would seem to be another attempt at
fairness, it creates a fresh set of problems.
As Robert Troy, Fianna Fáil sports spokesman, said
there is little point handing out a portion of funing sought by clubs as they
may not be able to complete a project, while also putting pressure on clubs to
engage in further fundraising or risk losing the grant.
“What’s the point in giving €5,000 to a club that is
looking for €100,000,” Mr Troy reasoned.
The desire by the government to spread funding for
sports clubs as wide as possible is pure politics. The trouble is – it’s just
not sport....or fair play.
