Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to ask Mr. Ó Lionáin about the sports capital grant. It has had a very positive impact on clubs throughout the country and has been important for them, but an element of the grant that has been raised with me is how clubs, particularly in working-class communities, struggle to raise funds. If a club applies for a €50,000 grant for lights or something, it already needs money to be able to draw down the grant to pay for the project. Most of the clubs in inner-city communities I represent do not have that funding, though, and are therefore excluded from applying for sports capital grants. In leafier suburbs, rugby clubs and so on have professional members and can ask them to chip in €1,000 each, and they will get the funding rapidly, but this requirement is a significant disincentive for small amateur clubs in inner-city communities. Will the Department seek to address this matter? Why has it not done so? It seems a glaring issue to me from the feedback I have received from local clubs.