Mr. Cian ? Lion?in:

Go raibh maith agat a Chathaoirligh, agus míle buíochas as ucht an gcuireadh agus fáiltím an deis aghaidh a thabhairt faoin ábhar tábhachtach seo. I assure the committee that the Department and our Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, and Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, recognise the importance of investment in football as one of the key participation sports in Ireland.

Regarding the FAI’s facility investment vision and strategy, while the level of capital funding sought from the Exchequer is very ambitious in the context of current funding levels, the Department is strongly committed to sustained investment in the necessary facilities for all sports. Indeed, we look forward to engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in the coming period in the context of a review of the national development plan regarding the longer term capital funding needs of the wider sports ecosystem. The FAI’s strategy is certainly a useful input to that wider consideration.

The strategy outlines a proposed total investment of €863 million, of which €517 million will come from central government, with €173 million proposed to come from local government, educational bodies and local health authorities. Over the 15 years of the strategy, this works out at €46 million in total government support each year. It should be noted that the central government ask alone, of just over €34 million, equates almost exactly to the entirety of the annual sports capital and equipment programme, SCEP, budget, which is currently €34.535 million.

The sports capital and equipment programme is the primary vehicle for Government support for the development of sports and recreation facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment throughout the country. The final allocations under the 2020 round were announced last year and the total allocation of €166.6 million represented the highest level of allocations ever made under the programme.

It is heartening to note strong engagement by the FAI in encouraging its clubs to apply for SCEP funding. Soccer projects alone received over €20 million under the 2020 round, compared with €6.6 million under the previous 2017 round. In terms of the amount allocated versus the amount applied for, that percentage grew from 28% in 2017 to 81% in 2020. The latest round of the SCEP - the 2023 round - closed for applications on Friday, 8 September. A preliminary examination of the submitted applications shows that the programme has again generated a large number of applications and that the total number will exceed the previous record of 3,106 applications submitted. We are now working on finalising the scoring system and assessment manual and it is hoped we will be able to announce the equipment-only grants in early 2024. Work will then commence on announcing the capital applications later in 2024.

Based on a preliminary comparison of applications submitted in 2023 and 2020, it is clear that soccer applications for SCEP are continuing to trend upwards across several areas, as we note an 11% increase in the number of applications from soccer clubs and a 116% increase in the overall amount sought. Soccer now accounts for nearly one fifth of the total amount sought across all applications.

The Department also administers the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF, which aims to support larger sports facilities where the Exchequer investment sought is greater than the maximum amount available under the SCEP. The first allocations under the LSSIF were announced in January 2020. The Minister and Minister of State were able to announce additional allocations only last week. Under the first round of funding, soccer facilities that have benefited include the Dalymount Park redevelopment, the Finn Harps–Donegal Community Stadium and the Munster Centre of Excellence. In the additional allocations announced recently, the FAI received an additional allocation of nearly €700,000 for the Finn Harps project, giving a total grant of €4,684,559 for the project. Regarding a possible new round of the LSSIF, the Minister and Minister of State have announced that a new round will open for applications in the first half of 2024.

Turning briefly to MOU No. 35 and the CEO's salary, the MOU between the Government and the FAI stipulates, inter alia, that the remuneration of the CEO will be in line with Government pay guidelines, that is, no greater than the remuneration of officers in the grade of Secretary General. KOSI’s audit report, commissioned by Sport Ireland, was received in the Department on 5 October 2023 and was subsequently reviewed and considered. Following detailed consideration, the Department replied to Sport Ireland, noting its agreement with the findings of the audit and outlining our expectation that the FAI would fully implement the audit findings. On foot of a briefing to him by Sport Ireland, the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, asked Sport Ireland to seek additional information from the FAI to have full assurance in this regard. This was received in the Department on 20 November. As outlined, on that basis, the Department informed Sport Ireland on 30 November that it could release the 2022 and 2023 funding to the FAI.

In relation to other commitments under the MOU, the Department again echoes what Sport Ireland has said about the positive progress the FAI made on reaching the 40% gender target at its recent AGM. The Minister and the Minister of State have asked Sport Ireland to prepare a full report on the FAI's compliance for the period for publication in the coming period.