Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Dillon in the first instance. Communities throughout County Mayo have responded to the programme and I acknowledge his input in that regard. As in all previous rounds, a review will be undertaken. We will take the learnings from this round, and once that has concluded, we will be able to provide a specific timeline. I do not want to mislead people about whether the process will open in a particular month or on a certain date. The programme for Government is clear that we are committed to running regular rounds of the sports capital and equipment programme. We have completed one round and we will provide a timeline for the next round when the review has concluded. The priority for now remains the round before us, given the appeals process has not concluded.

I acknowledge Deputy Farrell's points and the 58 clubs in Fingal that have benefited from the programme. A total of €6 million is available for appeals by unsuccessful applicants or applicants whose applications were deemed invalid. They will have an opportunity to respond in that regard.

Deputy O'Connor referred to €1.9 million in funding for his constituency. All clubs will soon receive communication on the exact process for how they can draw down the provisional grant offer. It will set out what they will have to do to get the full grant allocations. They will be written to shortly and that will kick off the drawdown. We will, I hope, see many projects happen this year. We want to get drawdown happening quickly.

On Deputy Ó Ríordáin's point, many local authorities have benefited this time. In Dublin, many clubs have partnered with local authorities and got significant grant allocations. For example, Bohemians Football Club partnered with Dublin City University. There are many other examples throughout the country where clubs partnered with institutions to maximise the sharing of facilities and the community benefit. That municipal approach is important to strengthen sports infrastructure for our communities. We are currently conducting an exercise with Sport Ireland in which we are mapping every recreational facility in every community in the country, which will show the geographical and community deficits that exist. It will underpin future, focused investment in sport. There are areas where that level of investment does not exist or where communities have not been able to apply, and that will inform a future approach.

I acknowledge Deputy Ó Cathasaigh's points about the benefits for County Waterford and the importance of a bottom-up approach. The appeals system will be outlined shortly.

To respond to Deputy O'Donnell, applicants with invalid or unsuccessful applications will be able to appeal. A full €6 million has been set aside. The Minister and I will finalise the appeals process this week and early next week. I hope the process will be able to commence in March and there will then be a window for all clubs to make an appeal and be assessed quickly. It will not be a drawn-out process.

I will convey Deputy Stanton's feedback to the officials. When we publish the formal appeals system, it will give clubs the opportunity to see where they fall in that context. It will be-----

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