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

It has been really good. We have worked with it to make sure that happens. I pay tribute to it. That was not always the case with the FAI. I am not saying it is all its fault, but it is not all the fault of the Government either.

I do not know how many football clubs applied for the LSSIF scheme. Finn Harps FC was granted €3.99 million. I want to give that money to it and for the stadium to be built. In line with the standard procedures for grants, we are waiting for correspondence from the FAI in terms of co-funding. We are awaiting some documentation. There is also an LSSIF top-up process in place and I want Finn Harps FC to succeed in that. Officials are assessing that at the moment, but I understand it has submitted an application. We want to provide the grant and build the stadium.

Bohemians got funding for the design of its stadium and I hope there will be another round soon for Dalymount Park. It will be able to apply for funding. Deputy Ó Murchú mentioned Dundalk FC applied through the sports capital programme. I do not know which bodies have applied for that funding, but the information will be published on the website very soon. I wonder how many League of Ireland clubs will apply for sports capital funding; I hope some have because it is there and available to them.

Over the past number of years, under the memorandum of understanding with the FAI there has been a total of €62 million provided to the FAI by Sport Ireland through the Government, for 2019 to 2022, inclusive. That is a huge amount of funding. Part of that funding was stadium funding. About €2.5 million goes into the Aviva, through the FAI, every year from the Government. It is a recoupable amount of money that has to be paid back in due course. That was the deal that was done a long time ago. Huge support is being given to football.

Like a number of Deputies here, I regularly go to see Drogheda United play. I know the facilities are basically the same as they were when I was a child. However, it is a matter for the club. The private investment it has been seeking is a matter for the members, and the club is going through that process. As Deputy Farrell said, there is private investment in the League of Ireland. The story is not just about the Government; it is also about the opportunities for private investment. It is important to mention that. In general that is welcome, and there should be an acknowledgement that it is not entirely a matter for the Government, in particular where there are private investors.

Deputy Andrews mentioned the digital database of sport. That is on track to be launched very shortly, I would say in the coming weeks.

We are sorting out diaries in relation to that. I am sure the sports spokespersons will be invited to attend. That is a very important moment. I have seen the digital database in operation. On the front end, it is a website to guide the public and tourists on the location of sports facilities, trails and leisure facilities in their area. If a person wants to know where there is a GAA pitch, a walking trail or a tennis club in their area, they can look it up. It is all in there. On the back end, it is a database for the State and for those of us in sports capital to see where the deficits, problems and gaps are. We can look at that at a general level. It also allows us to identify where there opportunities are. For example, there are hundreds of tennis courts around the country that are not attached to any club. Tennis Ireland is working on how to activate these, improve them and show the public they can use them. There are lots of different ideas there, so this is a fantastic resource.

Before we start getting the criticism, this database will not be perfect on day one. It is dependent on the data that local authorities have provided to us. I think that not all local authorities have provided all the data yet. We are going to launch at about 70% and there will be mistakes. I spotted one already when I was looking at it. This is a work in progress. It is fantastic. It will be great and comprehensive but it will need a bit of time.

Deputy Devlin mentioned the issue of disadvantage. I would like to remind everybody that the most important criterion in sports capital assessment is that of addressing disadvantage. Deputy Andrews mentioned clubs that cannot raise the funds to draw down the funds. There are avenues for that and we are happy to discuss them. It is possible to draw down in stages. It does not have to be all done at once. There are also charitable or social enterprises like Clann Credo that provide funding to clubs.

Deputy Ward raised some very serious issues that we will be happy to look into in more detail if he wishes to discuss them with us. He raised a specific issue about a particular football league. He also raised the issue of Collinstown Pavilion. As Deputy Ward outlined, in relation to Collinstown and the football pitches in his constituency, we award the money. However, South Dublin County Council is the body that has decided to do the work. If it is not doing it, having received grants of, I think, more than €400,000 - I do not have the figure to hand but that is the figure he outlined - there is a problem with South Dublin County Council. That is not one of these clubs that cannot get the money together or that is a group of volunteers. This is a local authority we are talking about. We are willing to work with the Deputy to make sure that this will succeed and get off the ground.

Deputy Higgins mentioned the school project that I visited with her. I was glad to go there. It was an excellent project in an excellent school. I hope that it is successful. Deputy McAuliffe mentioned the issue of Ballymun to me on a number of occasions. I am in the Department of Education as well and one of the objectives there is that we can bring heads together, which we are doing, to make sure we can use school facilities where appropriate for the community. On the other side, it is also about trying to get schools to use community facilities. This is challenging as well for some of the reasons Deputy Gannon mentioned, such as the cost of facilities, including those on State-owned land.

Ní féidir liom gealltanas a thabhairt don Teachta Ó Snodaigh go mbeidh ficheall ar an gclár le hairgead a fháil ach b’fhéidir go mbeadh seans ag an mbrisdamhsa mar a thug an Teachta air, go háirithe má tá sé sna Cluichí Oilimpeacha. Tá mé sásta dul i dteagmháil le Spórt Éireann maidir le sin.

I think I have dealt with most of the issues raised. Deputy Gannon raised one other point about community safety and sports, which is very important. In fact, this Saturday I am addressing a conference in Drogheda under the auspices of the Drogheda implementation board. Perhaps Deputy O'Murchú has been invited to that as well. The conference is about how sport plays a role in the Drogheda implementation plan. That is very important and there may be lessons from that and the discussions that are happening in the Drogheda and east Meath area on how sport can play a role in community safety.

I thank everybody for participating in the debate. I suspect that I will have a long meeting with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, in respect of all the requests made to ensure we have all the funding necessary to fulfil these. We want to fund every sport and to make sure everybody has the opportunity to participate.

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