Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy asked about the financial situation for clubs. We have been engaging with the national governing bodies through the sports monitoring group and with the Federation of Irish Sport, the Olympic Federation of Ireland and representatives of athletes. We know funding will be needed to try to get sport in Ireland past this phase. As part of that, we envisage that an element of that funding will go to a resilience fund for local sports clubs. How that will be administered has yet to be decided. I would envisage that it will go through Sport Ireland and that the national governing bodies will make a pitch for the clubs that are most exposed and in danger of going out of business.

We know that every club could do with a financial boost. We also know that for some clubs, if they do not get it, it will be the end of the road. That is what we want to avoid initially and that is what we are working on.

On the sports capital programme, earlier in the year we were pretty much ready to go with a new round. However, there is a transition in Government circles but Covid is also a significant factor. The question that needs to be asked is if there is a pressing need at the moment for a sports capital programme. Are clubs looking to expand their capital situations in terms of investments? The problem for most clubs is very much about current funding. These factors need to be considered. We are in a position to open up a new scheme quite soon. Again, we will need to see how the situation on the current front evolves in that regard.

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