Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)

I start by supporting Deputy Kenny's call for clarity for that project in Mallow. To be fair, the funding announcement was made. I do not think the funding is in jeopardy at all. I do not want this to turn into a negative story because the funding is still there. My understanding is that extra information was requested and it has now been submitted. It is now just a matter of sign-off. We would appreciate an update from the Minister of State. To be fair, Councillors Pat Hayes and Gearóid Murphy have been in contact with me about this project as well.

I will say something positive initially. I know it might be said that is surprising, but anyway. Sports capital funding is probably the most meaningful thing I have been involved with as a public representative over the last six years. I think its ability to deliver projects in every community is unmatched in terms of other projects the Government delivers. I can list off a whole range of projects that have been successful. I do not think there was a refusal in the last round for my entire constituency. I am sorry, there might have been one. Basically, anybody that applied, ticked all the boxes and provided the appropriate information got funding. The Minister of State's predecessor is to be commended on that, and when the current Minister of State does his own cycle of grants next year, I hope it will be equally successful.

I will make one point in relation to the LSSIF. It is something I have spoken to the Minister of State about previously. I will not mention any specifics, but the term "use it or lose it" was used by the previous speaker. We have a project, which I will not name, that was allocated €2 million back in 2020 or 2019. It has still not been drawn down and the organisation continues to sit on that money while there are other viable projects for that organisation to look at in terms of delivering local sports facilities. In future, I think some kind of a time limit must be placed on these LSSIF grants in particular. They are major projects and involve big money. At the end of the day, people get high expectations when they see these announcements. They want to see the projects delivered. I think this approach is worthy of consideration in the next round of the LSSIF, which will probably be in 2027.

On sports capital, we need to have a major focus in the next round on multisport applications. I think they give us the most bang for our buck. I am dealing with many organisations now, including in Carrignavar, that will be doing a combined CCIF and, hopefully, LSSIF project in the future to deliver a massive multisport project. The emphasis needs to go on delivering those projects above all others because they have the ability to reach a wider audience.

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