Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister of State, Deputy Griffin, has outlined, after a lot of hard work we were delighted to be in a position to provide assistance to so many worthwhile projects at the end of last year. Inevitably though, there were some disappointed applicants who were deemed invalid at assessment stage. In that regard, all applicants deemed invalid or partially invalid were invited to appeal the Department's decision if it was felt that an error had been made in the assessment process. A total of 149 appeals were submitted prior to the deadlines and, of those, 35 were upheld. All applicants under the 2017 round of the programme that remain invalid have been informed that they will be given the opportunity of simply submitting corrected documentation when the next round of the programme opens without the requirement of submitting a full new application. I think that and other measures already outlined by the Minister of State, Deputy Griffin, show our commitment to making the application process as user-friendly as possible.

We must always seek to improve further however, and I believe that we can make further progress in relation to eliminating all invalid applications and ensuring that every eligible organisation is aware that there is a programme open for applications. A particular focus in this regard will be ensuring that all schools are aware of the programme. As was done with previous rounds of the programme, a review of the 2017 round is now under way which is also examining what would be feasible in terms of the scale and timing of the next round. I expect this review to be complete shortly and an announcement regarding the next round will be made at that stage.

The recently published national development plan reaffirms the Government’s commitment to sport infrastructure in the years ahead. At least €100 million in capital funding will be provided for the sports capital programme for the coming four years. This will cover all of our existing commitments and also allow new rounds of the programme to open for applications. We will announce more details in this regard once the review of the 2017 round of the programme is complete. I am also delighted that the national development plan commits to establishing a new large-scale sports infrastructure fund for larger projects where the proposed Government contribution exceeds the amount available under the SCP. The new fund is designed to provide a more structured approach for such funding and at least €100 million is being provided. The full terms and conditions of the scheme will be finalised in the coming months.

In summary, Government investment in sport is money well spent and I believe that the sports capital programme remains an excellent example of Government supporting the voluntary sector in a way that benefits entire communities. We are committed to continuing to improve sports facilities and giving everybody who wants to get involved in sport the opportunity to do so. We look forward to seeing the many successful projects under the most recent round of the programme progressing but also seeing new applicants being given the opportunity to submit new proposals as soon as possible. We do not believe that the system is absolutely perfect as it stands. It can always be improved. A review is being undertaken, as is done every year. We welcome any suggestions made by the committee for improvements which could be made in order to benefit people and include more people in sport.

I thought it would be useful to ask Mr. Spratt to address the committee and, with the permission of the Chairman, I call on him to offer a few remarks.