Opposition demands independent body to handle lottery funds
Minister O'Donoghue has put €5.85m into his native Kerry treble the amount spent in counties with bigger populations such as Limerick and Cork.
The Sports Minister's big spending in his own constituency has sparked a call from the opposition to establish an independent group to distribute the sports grants.
The Department of Tourism and Sport approved €39m in funding last month and seven of the biggest grants went to organisations in Kerry South, where O'Donoghue topped the poll in the last general election.
Some €300,000 was granted to ACARD, the company that runs the local marina in O'Donoghue's hometown of Caherciveen.
And in the last two years €550,000 has gone towards the building of a club house at Killorglin rowing club, located in the heartlands of O'Donoghue's constituency.
O'Donoghue's big spending in Kerry follows a similar pattern to the last Sports Minster Dr Jim McDaid, who gave the green light to €3.21m for his home county of Donegal in 2001, and 5m the following year.
The county was the biggest winner in the country when the funds were handed out in 2002.
Also in 2001 the former Arts Minister Síle de Valera allocated almost 10% of a €46m funding scheme to projects in county Clare.
Former Fine Gael Sports Minister Bernard Allen yesterday said the Sports Council should handle the lottery grants.
"I proposed when we were in Government that this should happen and this would have been the case if we were returned to power," he said.
"The grants should be based on real local need rather than political expediency and the Sports Council can guarantee this."
Labour TD Jack Wall also backed a call for the transfer of the funds from the Department of Tourism and Sport to an independent board.
"There should be a better divide and it's clear that Minister O'Donoghue and the Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy have been helping their own constituencies," he said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Tourism, Arts and Sport said the Minister had no direct involvement with any of the Kerry groups that received money.
