Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the debate. Investing in sport and sports infrastructure is one of the wisest choices a state can make. It pays back in terms of public health, safer communities and confidence in young people, a confidence they carry into schools and their working lives. In Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, we are already seeing the benefits. Our area received €1.5 million under the community sports facilities fund in 2024 to improve council facilities at Loughlinstown, Meadowbrook and Stonebridge Road in Shankill. Of course, significant funding was also provided to Monkstown Boxing Club for its wonderful clubhouse in Mounttown. Some clubs, though, are still in need of facilities, like Pearse Rovers FC, Granada FC, Shankill GAA and the Olympic Centre of Excellence in the harbour, which the Minister of State has visited.

Last November, €4.6 million was allocated under the LSSIF for a new facility at Hyde Park in Dalkey, to be shared between Dalkey United and Cuala GAA. That is a flagship project with real local dividends, but success brings pressure and pitches in Dublin are at breaking point. Demand outstrips supply most evenings and weekends, and clubs juggle waiting lists, shorten sessions and undertake long trips across the city and county. If we want participation to grow, we need more playable hours, floodlighting, all-weather upgrades, safer routes to and from facilities and a shared use agreement with schools and colleges on other facilities. Equal access matters too. Girls' teams and disability sports need guaranteed peak time too and not the leftover slots.

Looking ahead, I encourage every club to get ready for the next round of funding under the community sport facility fund call in 2026. Obviously, they should know that shovel-ready projects win all the time. It would help if the Minister of State's Department could publish an indicative timeline and a short guide on how to be ready for smaller clubs so they are not left behind. Can the Minister of State indicate when the next round of the LSSIF will open? We also need a mid-tier stream of grants to bridge the gap between the small grants and funding for stadium-scale projects. With that, we can relieve pitch pressures, widen participation and keep our young people active, connected and thriving.

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