Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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3. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her views on the situation in relation to a stadium (details supplied); and if she will consider providing the necessary funds to redevelop the stadium. [48382/21]

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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As I hope the Minister of State is aware, there is a dearth of quality stadiums not only in the country but in Dublin and, from my perspective, particularly on the north side of the capital. I am asking for the Minster of State's views on the retention of Tolka Park as a stadium and on its redevelopment. Can we save it from the sword of Damocles under which it stands, where it is in the position of being sold by Dublin City Council?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Future development plans for the facility referred to by the Deputy are a matter in the first instance for Dublin City Council as the owners of the stadium. In terms of my role, my Department provides grant assistance for sporting facilities through the sports capital and equipment programme, SCEP, and the large scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF.

Under the SCEP, grants of up to €300,000 are available to community organisations, sports clubs, national governing bodies of sport and local authorities. The stadium referred to by the Deputy received a provisional allocation of €71,000 under the 2018 round of the programme but this has yet to be drawn down.

The latest round of the SCEP closed for applications on 1 March. Assessment work is continuing on other grants. The national sports policy published in 2018 provided for the establishment of the LSSIF. The aim of the fund is to provide support for larger sports facilities where the Exchequer investment is greater than the maximum amount available under the SCEP. The national development plan provided a capital allocation of at least €100 million and approximately €86 million has been allocated of which €918,750 was awarded to Dublin City Council towards the design cost for the redevelopment of Dalymount stadium. It is proposed that the redeveloped Dalymount Park will be home to both Bohemian FC and Shelbourne FC. As the Deputy will be aware, Shelbourne FC are the current main users of the Tolka Park facility.

While it is not proposed to open the LSSIF for new applications at present, we are undertaking a review of the LSSIF which is expected to be complete in the near future. This will look to progress on all existing grants and the timing of a new call for proposals will also be considered.

Among the key considerations in the assessment of any applications is the likelihood of increasing participation including female participation, how projects will cater for disadvantaged users and whether the proposed facility will be shared with other users or sports. I am committed to continued investment in our sport infrastructure in the years ahead and any future application for funding for the stadium referred to by the Deputy under either the SCEP or LSSIF will be considered on its own merits in line with the relevant assessment criteria.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I fully appreciate that the owner of this stadium is Dublin City Council but I was also a member of Dublin City Council for over six years and I recognise that we stripped Dublin City Council of all local government funding to the point that all it sees in its assets is how it can sell them off in order to raise funds. In this Chamber, we talk about issues of national importance. High-quality stadiums are something that every person, whether in Dublin or elsewhere in the country, can benefit from. The game of soccer is something that is so important to so many lives and brings positivity. This issue is one of such importance that we can intervene here. We need to take ownership of soccer's viability. There are two stadiums on the north side of the city, as the Minister of State will know well, which are used by Bohemians and Shelbourne. The two clubs deserve to have more than one stadium between both of only 6,500 capacity. There are four quality teams there. Bohemians now have a women's team and Shelbourne has a highly competent women's team. It is unrealistic to expect four teams to play in one stadium. I think we can intervene and provide national leadership, to ask Dublin City Council to halt the same and provide a pathway forward by which we can keep both stadiums.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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We are absolutely committed to the development of football, particularly grassroots football, and strengthening the League of Ireland. That is something I am very ambitious for.

Tolka Park is owned by Dublin City Council so any future plans are a matter for the council and the councillors. Dublin City Council is also the lead applicant for the redevelopment of Dalymount stadium and the design work is at an advanced stage. In a previous proposal it was understood that Dublin City Council planned to fund some of the construction costs with Tolka Park, however as the Deputy is very well aware, as am I, the proposal has met with opposition locally with a high profile campaign to keep the Tolka Park facility for sporting use. From my perspective and that of the Department there would be no objection to keeping Tolka Park in sporting use and any future proposal for the development work could be considered like any other application under the sports capital and equipment programme and to the large scale sports infrastructure fund. That would be a matter for the council around any funding implication for its plans around the redevelopment of stadiums but we are committed. The national development plan just published includes continuity of the large scale sports infrastructure fund and the sports capital and equipment programme to strengthen our league and our grassroots. However, this is a matter around ownership on which the council will have to make a decision.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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In my last years on the council the controlling group committed to not selling off any more public land. The council management, which is unelected, does not have the same vision for the city and certainly does not have the same vision for League of Ireland football as maybe the Minister of State, myself and others in the Chamber. The Minister of State's comment that no there would be no objection to an application for the large scale sporting infrastructure fund is welcome. Maybe we can find unity between the Government and Opposition and say that it would be a welcome development for us that a stadium such as Tolka Park, with all its historical importance, should be retained. It should be a stadium for Shelbourne Football Club and as a local amenity for the area. The Minister of State's remark is one that we can see as a form of quasi-commitment and one that we can build a path forward from because League of Ireland football is too important to be neglected. Shelbourne and Bohemians have each have histories and futures in their own rights and they deserve stadiums worthy of their achievements. Let us save Tolka Park and build it as a football stadium worthy of its place in the country.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge what the Deputy said. As I mentioned, there must be prioritisation within both the FAI and the council around sport. We are ambitious for growing the league and our grassroots. That is why if any application came in, we would look at it on its merits. That is the same for any stadium in north Dublin, south Dublin or anywhere around the country. Plenty of people here have ambitions for their areas. We have tried to progress the stadium for Finn Harps that has been sitting there for years, for example. A big area by which to grow the league ensuring that the sporting infrastructure which facilitates the matches is modernised. That is something that is in the current large scale sports infrastructure fund and I am sure will feature in further iterations. The primary issue here is that Dublin City Council needs to decide on the future of the stadium. As far as any future application is concerned, we treat every application on its merits and that is really important and any sporting organisation or club can apply and they are assessed fairly as per the published criteria.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I will now return to Question No. 1 in the name of Deputy Munster.