The Government's decision to axe the Sports Capital Grant is an abuse of National Lottery funds and is legally questionable according to John Duffy, Fine Gael local election candidate for Drumlish.
"The National Lottery was set up to provide funding for sports, charities and the Irish Language. For the Government to simply pocket the Lotto funds is a 'numbers game' that Al Capone would be proud of," said Duffy.
"Many clubs and associations throughout Longford have had to put their plans on hold because of this high-handed decision by Minister Martin Cullen. These schemes provide good local employment at a time when we need to keep people in jobs. Many of the big infrastructure schemes, such as the Dublin underground, will cost billions while providing very few jobs," he added.
Duffy said that local people were being delivered a double whammy. They were losing out on the spending on these schemes and were losing out on the benefits of the projects. He called for the decision to be reversed immediately.
"Fine Gael is investigating whether this decision is legitimate. The National Lottery was set up under legislation and Minister Cullen's decision is of dubious legality. We've been hearing for years that lotto funding is impartial and beyond political control. Now the Minister thinks he can cut lotto spending as he pleases. It's time the Coalition came clean on this," concluded Duffy.
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