Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As part of budget 2023, a funding package of €35 million was made available to help alleviate the impact of increased energy costs for sports clubs and organisations, with a view to ensuring that everybody could continue to enjoy the benefits of sport and physical activity over the winter months. In doing so, the Government acknowledged that increased energy costs are a major concern for sporting organisations and sporting facilities, particularly during the winter months when there is increased demand for indoor facilities with heating and lighting costs, as well as floodlit outdoor facilities such as playing areas, hurling walls and walking tracks, etc. Notwithstanding that all sporting activity has fully resumed, many sporting clubs and organisations continue to feel the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, not just in financial terms, but also with reduced membership and volunteer numbers. Reduced rates of participation in sport and physical activity will impact the physical and mental well-being of the nation, both in the short and long term, which is something we wish to avoid.

The sports energy support scheme, SESS, was launched by Sport Ireland in November 2022 to support sporting organisations with the rising energy costs associated with the provision of sport, for example, around increased indoor activity and the provision of outdoor flood lighting, with a particular emphasis on sports clubs with dedicated facilities. To date, €21 million has been allocated to support sporting organisations with the rising energy costs associated with the provision of sport. The funding is in the main being distributed through the national governing bodies of sport, in like manner to the suite of Covid-19 supports provided to the sports sector over the past two years. Officials from the Department are working with Sport Ireland to ensure the allocation of the remaining funding as soon as possible. It should also be noted that the Department strives to improve environmental performance through energy efficiency supports in its capital funding schemes. Currently, the sports capital and equipment programme, SCEP, funds a range of green measures, including modifications to sports facilities to reduce energy consumption and restricts funding for flood lighting to light-emitting diode, LED, floodlights. Under the most recent sports capital round opened in 2022, €15.4 million was allocated to 166 applications which featured green measures such as LED flood lighting, solar and photovoltaic, PV, panels.

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