Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

That frequency is very important, and Mr. Ó Lionáin makes a really important point that the absence of the regular awarding of grants and the fact that it does not happen on a rolling basis is a major flaw in the system.

On the issue of the support that clubs received during the pandemic, from my experience, sports clubs were divided into two groups: those that perhaps had large borrowings connected with a clubhouse or perhaps a clubhouse operating a restaurant and bar and those that did not. While funding was provided to national bodies, as Ms Licken outlined to Deputy Dillon, clubs on the ground, particularly those that had large borrowing requirements, really struggled, and financial institutions were not always amenable to working with those clubs. I know this does not fall entirely into the period we are discussing, but what audits has the Department done on how much money got out onto the ground and made an impact in individual clubs as well as in the sporting bodies, which, obviously, have a need too?