The Assembly's DCAL committee is seeking answers after it met yesterday and Alliance MLA Keiran McCarthy raised the matter, which he described as both "staggering" and "shocking".


And, he added, it was even more shocking given that the Irish Football Association is facing a situation which could see it lose out on £5 million for the sport for declining to streamline its executive operations, and the Arts Council cannot get the money it requires.
The underspend issue raises its head at a time when DCAL is set to financially strapped by the draft budget.


The committee has written to DCAL.
Mr McCarthy said: "There is a massive £10 million underspend in a number of agencies falling under the DCAL remit. I find this unbelievable given the much-publicised lack of funding in certain areas (covered by) this sector.


"There are many serious questions that need to be answered on this issue. Where did this money go to? Is this cash now gone for good from the culture, arts and leisure sector?


"DCAL and other government departments are crying out for more funding in a number of cash-strapped areas. These tight financial circumstances make this underspend all the more shocking.
"It is also staggering to find out that DCAL had the highest percentage of underspend out of all the government departments, with 30.1 per cent of its entire budget falling into this bracket.
"Coming on the back of the news that the IFA's vote may have put the £5 million funding for local football in jeopardy, this news is even more shocking."



A DCAL spokesperson responded: "The recorded £10.7m under-spend is nine per cent of the overall annual budget for the year 2006/07.
"Some £6.5m of the under-spend is for capital projects such as the Lyric Theatre, Cultra and the Ulster Museum which for various reasons did not complete in the 2006/07 financial year.
"The 2007/08 programme included provision for the cost of work not completed in 2006/07."