521 Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will support a club (details supplied) in Dublin 9. [11240/08]

524 Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will advise a club (details supplied) in Dublin 9. [11415/08]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 521 and 524 together.

Under the sports capital programme, which is administered by my Department, funding is allocated to sporting and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. Applications for funding under the 2008 programme were invited through advertisements in the Press on 13th and 14th of January and the deadline for receipt of applications was 29th February for paper-based applications and 7th March for online applications. All applications received before the deadline are currently being evaluated against the programme's assessment criteria, which are outlined in the guidelines, terms and conditions of the programme. I intend to announce the grant allocations for the programme as soon as possible after the assessment process has been completed. In this regard, I must inform the Deputy that there is no record of an application being received under the name supplied.

I must also point out that the sports capital programme does not assist in the acquisition of sites or premises. It may be open to the organisation in question to avail of the tax relief on donations to certain sports bodies scheme, established under section 847a of the Taxes Consolidation Act. It allows for tax relief on donations made to approved sports bodies for the funding of sports capital projects, including the purchase of land or premises. In this regard, the organisation should contact the Revenue Commissioners for further information or download the scheme guidelines from www.revenue.ie or www.dast.gov.ie.