Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Deputy O'Shea on a very strong election result. I wish him well in his term of office.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 11 together. The programme for Government, in which the Deputy had a role in negotiations, commits to supporting the sporting ecosystem so that more people can participate in and reap the benefits of sport and fulfil their potential from grassroots right up to high performance level. We will achieve this through a number of measures, including maintaining sports funding to get more people participating in all levels of sport, particularly targeting cohorts in society where there are lower than average participation levels. This includes people with disabilities and older people. Sport adds so much to our lives as spectators, grassroots participants or those who excel in their field. Government investment means our participants have good facilities at their disposal and can train to compete to the best of their ability, whatever that is. Government investment in sports is visible in our clubs and facilities. It is also visible in the achievements of our athletes at the highest levels, as we saw with the successful summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Government is committed to continuing to increase its investment during our time in office.

In terms of the funding in place, the community sport facilities fund, CSFF, is the primary vehicle for Government support for the development of sports and recreation facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment. CSFF grants provide new or improved facilities, helping people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in clubs, who benefit greatly from this. In September 2024, €230 million was invested in grants for sports clubs and facilities under phase 2 of the community sport facilities fund. More than a quarter of a billion euro was also allocated to community sports clubs and facilities in total in 2024, taking account of the earlier equipment-only allocations.

There were 3,211 applications for the 2023 round, 365 of which were from organisations in the Deputy's county of Cork. In September, allocations were confirmed and the amount allocated to Cork organisations was just over €29.5 million. Given the scale of funding available and the time required to assess all local applications, the recommended allocation amounts for valid local applications were calculated using the Pobal index as the primary calculation factor. The scoring system for regional applications was designed to reward applications from disadvantaged areas, applications that showed evidence of sharing and those that had engaged with the planning process. All invalid applicants were offered a three-week period to appeal the Department's decision, the deadline for which was 29 October. For every appeal, the application was reviewed by an officer other than the original assessor. All appellants have now been informed of the outcome of their appeals.

In line with previous rounds of the programme, a review of the current funding round will now be undertaken. That review will be used to inform the timing of the next round of the community sport facilities fund. I anticipate that the next round should be announced early in 2026, with the consideration of the applications to follow and an announcement of funding later in 2026. So far, the pattern has been that, every two years approximately, there is a new round of allocations to clubs. I expect a similar timeline again.

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