Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 25 November 2021

Public Accounts Committee

2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Chapter 7 - Oversight of Funding for the European Capital of Culture 2020

9:30 am

Mr. Cian Ó Lionáin:

The equipment grants amounting to €16 million were announced in August. That was a subset of what was the largest ever round and ask we have received under the sports capital programme. We are finalising the process of review of those applications. There is nothing further for those who have applied under that process to do. There has been significant interaction with them since 1 March because, as the Deputy probably knows, there is now an opportunity for clubs to mend their hand if they have made an administrative or other error in their application. The critical issue for us is to maximise the available pot of funding for what will probably be an early January announcement. That is our number one ask of others and task for ourselves in order that we can ensure we can give every valid club as much as possible to allow their projects to proceed.