Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and the Minister of State to the committee. I am envious of them. They hold roles that are unusual for many Ministers and Ministers of State because their portfolios and briefs touch the hearts and minds of nearly every household and family in the country. I think it will probably be quite an enjoyable brief, once we get over all the Arts Council business.

Starting with the Minister of State, I have some queries around sports capital funding. Specifically on the large-scale sports infrastructure fund, this was warmly welcomed last year, with €173 million benefitting some 35 projects. This is testament to the Government creating funding opportunities, which demonstrates its ambitious vision for sport.

Last year saw an unprecedented number of applications from clubs and organisations looking to evolve, grow their respective sports and make lasting contributions to their clubs and communities through facilities mostly. Upgrades to facilities and the building of facilities future-proofs their clubs for the next generations to enjoy. However, with great vision comes great disappointment when these clubs are not successful. The figures speak for themselves with €665 million for 96 applications. This shows we were only touching one third of the demand that was there, both in applications and the value of money that was set aside and earmarked for the funds. I have submitted several parliamentary questions to try to get some clarity on it. There seems to be some grey area on the reserve list. Some of my responses have suggested that a reserve was being co-ordinated and would be published in due course. My most recent response now suggests that this reserve list is not being published. Is it the intention of the Minister of State to publish that reserve list?