SDLP Justice Spokesperson and Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan
The delivery of the £23m hardship scheme launched last December for sporting organisations during the Covid-19 pandemic has been criticised by the Audit Office.
Auditors found that in some cases clubs had pre-pandemic profits underwritten by the scheme.
Royal County Down Golf Club, which received a £1.5m grant, was among those to benefit in that way after posting a loss of around £900,000 the previous year, the report found.
The Audit Office said that was “not an appropriate use of public spending”.
The report found the scheme “particularly benefited the golf sector”.
Responding to the report, Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan said: “The Audit Office report is clear in its findings – the rollout of the scheme and the payment of, in some cases, huge sums of money to clubs or organisations was not an appropriate use of public money.
“While I welcome the efforts made by DfC to protect sports clubs from imminent closure, failure to consider their reserves and the, quite frankly, bizarre decision to underwrite profits created a perverse situation where ‘rich’ organisations get richer and those with less financial activity and more at risk got less support than others with substantial reserves and profitability.
“Many people will quite rightly ask how Minister Hargey’s Department allowed this to happen.
“This is the same minister who refused to introduce a Self-Isolation Payment, despite repeated calls from myself and others, for people who were forced to take off work in accordance with public health guidance to minimise the risk of spread of Covid.
“People were literally left with making the choice between earning money to feed their family or staying at home and isolating.
“We cannot ignore either, the hoops that Arts organisations and individuals, many of whom still aren’t able to earn a living, had to jump through to get support.
“The inconsistencies in approaches to different sectors by the same minister have been huge.
“While we all hope and pray that we never again face a situation like we’ve struggled with over the past 15 months, lessons must be learned from the clear and obvious mistakes made here,” added Mr Durkan.
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