As the final round of budget negotiations takes place between Government ministers and the purse string controlling Finance Department, there is growing speculation that sport will be pitching for a third consecutive round of capital grants.
So far under the current administration a total of €70 million has been committed to projects that are transforming the infrastructure on which a rising level of sports participation is based.
The grants have gone to a wide spread of sports with the big three of GAA, Soccer and Rugby getting the lions share but significant projects also undertaken through tennis, sailing, rowing cricket and a host of others.
They have been distributed on a pro rata basis across each county and 880 clubs benefitted from the 2014 round.
There is some anxiety within sports governing bodies that the emphasis between capital and current spending is skewed too much towards the latter but the purchase of equipment was possible under recent grants and this alone is expenditure that would otherwise have to be met.
The leverage that grant income can provide at a time when more discretionary spending is freeing up in the general economy could well be seen as an attractive option for Government leading into a time when the focus will turn to elections that will take place inside the next 18 months.
It is also worth noting that the running of the scheme and staff allocations within the Sports arm of the Department are geared for a repeat.
Government recognises the value of a healthy population and the ability of sport to enhance mood could also be relevant.
We will know the answer in just over a week’s time but a smiling Minister Ring celebrating a third round of spending would not be the longest shot in the budget prediction stakes.
