An internal College memorandum sent to the Treasurer of the Finance Committee from the Director of Sport, Terry McAuley, states that eight per cent of sports centre income is being used to create a capital redevelopment fund. This fund is used by the Department of Sport to fund short and medium term sports projects.
The majority of the Sports Centre’s income is comprised of membership and the annual student charge of €77, a charge which was approved by student referendum in 2007. McAuley’s memorandum states that there are 508 staff members, 994 graduate members, and 196 public members of the sports centre.
Asked if the annual student charge should be used to fund Department of Sports projects McAuley made no comment, instead he issued a statement through the College Communications Office: ‘The Department of Sport budgets are agreed and approved annually by Finance Committee and Board and an eight per cent development fund is set aside to refurbish existing sports facilities and to provide seed funding for new capital projects.’
The text of the referendum put to the students in 2007 reads ‘Do you vote for TCDSU to support the introduction of an annual student sports centre charge of €70 to be paid with the registration fee for open membership of the sports centre for all students?’
The Students’ Union Education Officer, Ashley Cooke said that the student charge ‘should only be used to pay for membership of the sports centre.’
The charge has increased from €70 to €77 since it was introduced in 2007. The referendum that passed the charge requires that it be managed by the Treasurer’s Office in consultation with the Students’ Union and that the charge is to be linked to inflation.
The College says that the annual charge only accounts for fifty per cent of the cost of running the sports centre and the additional money is raised from ‘staff , graduate and public memberships and hire of the facilities off peak, sale of equipment, classes and courses and sponsorship’
The College figures say that €600,000 has been raised for the redevelopment fund so far. In McAuley’s memo he indicates that €164,000 has been allocated to the redevelopment fund for Department of Sport’s projects in 2008/09.
The actual allocations for the distribution of the fund are not available but the estimated costs of the projects are detailed in the memo from the Director of Sport.
The largest of these is a €1.25 million cost for the construction of a new boat house in Island Bridge for the boat club.
Other projects that are receiving funding from the redevelopment fund are astro pitch in Santry and the tennis courts in Botany Bay. On the longer term agenda is new flood lighting for Santry and refurbishment of the rugby pitch in College Park.
In the academic year 2007/08 the Department of Sport made a €600,000 surplus and had projected €450,000 for 2008/09.
For the 2007/08 year €870,000 was spent on grounds and premises by the Department of Sport according to their quarterly accounts, while €22,000 was spent on marketing and promotion. The Department of Sport’s accounts indicate that they had budgeted €50,000 for Miscellaneous however their actual spend is recorded as €106,558.
