Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Last Friday's announcement by the Taoiseach of an acceleration in the Government's roadmap has been widely welcomed across Irish sport. It is fair to say that there was a certain sense of relief among the population that the journey back for sport is well and truly under way. As with so many other sectors, the world of sport, domestically and internationally, has been turned upside down as a result of Covid-19. At the start of 2020 it was absolutely unthinkable that we would be where we are in June and to see the upheaval affecting the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games and Euro 2020 but, unfortunately, that is where we are and we are making progress in terms of the roadmap back.

The accelerated roadmap has provided a much needed and welcome confidence boost to the sports sector. As well as the return of outdoor sport, sporting bodies can now make plans for summer camps for children and teenagers. I was delighted to see our high-performance athletes return to training on Monday at the Sport Ireland Campus and at Morton Stadium, the national sailing centre and the National Rowing Centre as well.

Before the pandemic we were dealing with record levels of interest in sports capital projects throughout the country. Although that presents funding challenges, it is nonetheless a welcome reflection of the importance that people and clubs nationwide attach to their sport and the need for improved sports facilities. More than 12,000 projects have benefitted from sports capital funding since 1998 at a cost of almost €1 billion. The sporting landscape of Ireland has been transformed, with improvements in the quality and quantity of sporting facilities in virtually every village, town and city in the country. The most recent sports capital round in 2018 attracted a record 2,337 applications, with allocations being announced in January, May and November of last year. A total of more than €56 million was awarded to nearly 1,700 different projects. In recent weeks my Department has received many queries about the sports capital programme, mainly concerning the status of grant approvals. I take the opportunity today to confirm publicly the continuing validity of prior grant approvals. I also emphasise that it is very much business as usual for the programme.

Club volunteers and officials in my Department working from home are busy working together to progress the drawdown of these and other outstanding grants.

The National Sports Policy 2018-2027 contains a strong commitment to further develop our sports facilities and we remain determined to deliver on that commitment. A review of the 2018 round is being finalised and a decision on the timing of the next round of the programme will be taken when this is complete.

With regard to the large scale sporting infrastructure fund, LSSIF, good progress is also being made for these types of projects, which are being covered under the newly-established fund. The Government has provided a capital allocation of at least €100 million for the period to 2027 for this scheme. The scheme closed for applications in April of last year with applications initially confined to local authorities and national governing bodies of sport. On 10 January, the Minister and I announced provisional allocations amounting to more than €77 million for 25 projects under the construction stream. Three days later, on 13 January, we announced provisional allocations of €5 million for a further seven projects under the design stream of the LSSIF. The evaluation procedures and guidelines for the LSSIF provide that once provisional allocations are announced, the successful projects will undergo a further process of due diligence. This process includes a further review of projects including economic appraisals and feasibility studies, as appropriate, to comply with the public spending code. This work is ongoing and I look forward to seeing many of the projects progress to the construction stage in the near future.

Sport is, thankfully, starting to resume. However, much work remains to be done, especially on the impact of social distancing requirements and what that means for those sports that inherently involve contact. There is also the significant issue of future mass gatherings on which so many sports depend, especially the field team sports. Considerable work will need to be undertaken in this regard. The importance of working through these issues collaboratively with the sector is fully appreciated and we shall continue to do that.

I thank all of the people involved in sport in Ireland at community and national level, all the athletes and everyone who is involved for the great co-operation and collaborative approach that they have displayed throughout this period. The sports people have helped so many communities through their volunteerism and through encouraging people to remain active. I acknowledge all of that work that is being done because it is critically important to the response.

See this speech in context