The Government Budget is a complex piece of financial engineering, impacting every aspect of the way we live as a society and the result of so many strong competing claims as to make your head spin.
The fact it is delivered in less than an hour by the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure belies the detail that underpins the allocation of every euro and cent.
The real detail tends not to come out for hours, and often days after the budget is ‘released’ as each department battles to secure space in the Government communications machine and on the media radar for those who will be most affected.
The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media lies an unfortunate 13th in the pecking order determined by the Core Expenditure allocation.
Our €1.1 Billion is in the ha’penny place compared to the €24.6 Billion for Social Protection, the €21.4 billion for Health and the €10.4 Billion for Education
Within the Departmental allocation, this is further broken down into the five parts that make it up.
Sport and Recreation has been allocated €183 million in the Expenditure Report, half the amount allocated to Arts and Culture, and less also than Broadcasting and Media, and Tourism but more than the Gaeltacht.
We know our place in the greater scheme of things, at least until a philosophical and funding pathway can be created to and from the impact it can have on preventative healthcare.
That €183 million has yet to be broken down but is just a 4.7 percent increase on the comparable budget figure from last year of €174.8 million.
That being under the rate of inflation will be a concern until the full breakdown is received.
There are three areas listed in the Budget statement as being of note within the allocation:
- Increase female participation in sport, which will include examining participation, coaching & officiating
- Enhanced support for high-performance athletes
- Increased support for the National Governing Bodies of Sport
Minister Micheál McGrath also said in his speech that he would “examine how the tax system can be “utilised” to further support sport and charity organisations to assist with their capital programmes,” and that he “is committed to considering how our tax system can better encourage and support philanthropy.”
There may yet be something of long-term benefit in that but how far down the road it might be and what the more precise breakdowns in terms of the budget for sport will have to wait a while yet.