Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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10. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she plans to modify the criteria for the next call for applications for the sports capital grant; when she is likely to be in a position to announce the criteria; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24424/24]

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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15. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she intends to open the equipment-only grants for application again this year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24273/24]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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25. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the current position regarding the next allocations of the sports capital and equipment programme; when the grants will be allocated; if a budget has been agreed; how this compares to the total demand;the total allocation versus eligible demand for the recent equipment scheme; if a similar allocation can be achieved for the remaining capital applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24379/24]

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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31. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if the sports capital and equipment programme will open for applications in 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24272/24]

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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46. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for an update on the latest round of the sports capital and equipment programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24012/24]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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53. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for an update on the sports capital grant application process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24219/24]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy Bruton, who sends his apologies. First, I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, on achieving what seems to be a lot more funding this year for this very important programme.

I also want to comment on the staff from the office, who were extraordinarily helpful. The feedback is very good from people who have made applications. The question is about what changes might be made to the criteria for the next round. Is the Minister looking at any possible changes to the criteria?

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 15, 25, 31, 46 and 53 together.

The sports capital and equipment programme, SCEP, is the primary vehicle for Government support for the development of sports and recreational facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment. It is the policy of the Department after every round of the sports capital programme that we undertake a review and make recommendations as to changes. The criteria for any next round will be considered once we have gone through this round.

More than €1 billion in funding has been provided in total under the sports capital programme, which is a huge amount. In the latest round, €166.6 million was provided. This round closed for applications on 8 September. We set out a number of changes. We increased the thresholds at local and regional level to €200,000 and €500,000, respectively. We specifically reward projects that include adaptations for people with disabilities. We prioritise areas witnessing significant population growth. We reward projects that incorporate climate action measures. We make it very clear that the achievement by the governing bodies of sport of a 40% gender balance target will be a consideration when individual grants are being allocated.

I urge sporting organisations to be aware of the problems. Every week, I visit sports facilities or hear from sports clubs, women sports clubs in particular, that they do not have access to facilities on the same basis as men. They do not have similar pitch times or, in many cases, women's clubs are charged a rent but men's clubs are not. To be absolutely clear, a change I made this time is that there will be zero funding for facilities where that is the case. People seem to be in denial about this, but it is going to have to end. Otherwise, the Government cannot provide funding under programmes like this.

Some months ago, I met members of a soccer club which had to facilitate a ladies Gaelic football club because it could not get access to the local GAA pitch. This is happening all too frequently and it has to stop. We will not fund it.

The Minister and I were pleased to confirm yesterday that at least €250 million will be made available under this round of the sports capital and equipment programme. This is on foot of positive engagement with the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe. This will mean that there will be many more facilities – pitches, floodlights, halls, dressing rooms and improvements to swimming pools - all around Ireland.

I expect allocations to be announced in the autumn, but we have said that every valid application will be successful in that they will receive a grant at some level. It is very important that if clubs receive any queries from the Department over the summer, they deal with them positively in order that their application will be deemed valid.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. I congratulate him on the work he is doing in this area and the changes he is making. I will raise two issues with him. In some difficult cases, part of the blockage is that there is no hall or land available to communities. Clubs do not have the money or wherewithal to purchase land or buildings to do their thing, whatever it is. Has any consideration been given to providing funding for this? It has been said before that local authorities are very often in the same situation, in that they do not have the funding or the wherewithal either. Will the Minister of State consider if the Department or Government could purchase land or make halls or buildings available so that clubs can get off the ground?

The second issue relates to training and support for applicants for funding. What is going on in that regard? The application process can be quite complicated and daunting. Are training and support available for applicants?

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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A very welcome signal went out to clubs this week about their applications. I welcome the Minister of State's very strong focus on equality of participation. There is an outdated attitude evident which, thankfully, I think is disappearing. "Keep those girls off the good grass" is one of the things we hear in some of the more outdated places.

To return to Deputy Stanton's query, Tramore is a case in point in that the availability of land is incredibly tight. I have a rugby club that is dying to get its hands on a sporting facility. I also have an athletics club that would happily co-locate with it. We have some brilliant initiatives in terms of our AFC and GAA clubs in particular. In places that have an expanding population – Tramore is certainly one of those – and where local authority land becomes very limited as a result, there is a need for some way to help these clubs to get their foot onto the first rung of the ladder because without that, it is very difficult for them to get the ball rolling.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to ask a short supplementary question. I welcome the funding, which is a phenomenal amount of money. When we all started here the overall allocation was under €100 million. According to the Minister of State, it is now at least €250 million. By the sounds of it, there is scope for further increases, which would be even more welcome. From what the Minister of State said, many clubs and organisations come looking for additional funding for their members – they are right to do that – but yesterday's announcement lays down a challenge to them to get their act together in some cases and get their clubs organised and focused on making good applications.

I note the Minister of State's comment that the process is always reviewed after each round of grant allocations. I ask him to bear one point in mind. I refer to clubs having to provide receipts and then to claim the money back. I help groups with applications for community centres and a portion of the funding is paid upfront. Could something like that be considered for the sports capital programme in the future?

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State's progressive attitude towards sports capital grant funding is to be welcomed. One thing I would ask is that perhaps special consideration might be given to clubs and groups that have not previously received any recognition. There are a number of such organisations and they have been feeling a little neglected for some years. This is an opportunity to help them and one which I am sure the Minister of State will seize.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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A wide range of very important issues were raised. The purchase of land is a key issue. Let us be straight - we all have a role to play at every level of government.

Local authorities have a role to play in this. Councillors of all parties should be really focusing on this issue when zoning land. There are no restrictions on zoning land for sports facilities and making certain things conditional when housing is provided. That is really important. Acknowledging there is a problem, we all, as I said, have a role to play. I have had discussions with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on this issue and what we can do at Government level. Clearly, there is significant pressure on funding to build houses. However, we recognise very much that there is also a need to equip local authorities, in some cases, to purchase land. That is something on which we continue to work.

Regarding training support for the application process, we engage significantly with the national governing bodies, NGBs, in this regard. They provide their own training and the local sports partnerships, LSPs, provide help as well. Clubs can get all the information they need from those organisations and, indeed, from local politicians of all parties, who are well used to supporting them. We have tried to make the application process as easy as possible.

On women's facilities, Deputy Ó Cathasaigh acknowledged there is an issue. In fact, he slightly underplayed it. I meet members of women's clubs all the time who tell me they do not have access to facilities on a similar basis to men. Some people take the view it is okay that the men's club does not pay a fee to use facilities but the women's teams must pay a fee. That day is over from a funding point of view. That type of situation will disqualify applicants from drawing down sports capital funding. We will award the grants and give people a chance to change things. For any grant at regional level or above, we will now require a written policy demonstrating that the similar access policy is in place.

Deputy Durkan mentioned clubs that have not received grants previously. They will have an advantage under the scoring system. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan has raised on many occasions the question of funding for football. Soccer clubs, historically, have underachieved in attaining sports capital funding. I am pleased to note that soccer clubs were the highest recipients of any sport under the sports equipment programme we launched a couple of weeks ago. I made a big effort, together with the FAI, to make sure football clubs applied. They are not the highest applicants for capital but they certainly are at their highest ever level in terms of money and share of applications. Football is very high up and was the highest for equipment. That is important.

I accept there is an issue with providing receipts and claiming back money. We will keep that under ongoing review.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for the work he is doing. I support him in possibly obtaining funding from other sources to purchase land and properties. That is crucial. As my colleague said, to get on the first rung of the ladder is a big step. In my part of the country, there is a huge athletics community. Those involved are trying to build an athletics track but cannot get the land to do so. It is really frustrating.

What monitoring and evaluating happens after funding has been allocated to ensure it delivers the intended benefits? Is there any follow-up or feedback in that regard?

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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The Minister of State has sent out an extremely strong signal about equality of participation. Clubs will be very wise to listen carefully to what he is saying to ensure they can draw down the full funding available to them.

Deputy Durkan referred to capacity within clubs. We all have helped to review application forms for sports clubs applying for funding. The difference is clear between those clubs that have somebody who is very good at filling in application forms, who leaves no scoring criterion behind, versus the clubs that do not have the same capacity and could do with a bit of training. When we read the forms, we see the person filling it in has not hit box B or whatever. Those clubs are not maximising the potential of their application to achieve success. There is work to be done in this regard. The Department is very helpful. Work is needed on capacity-building, focusing particularly on clubs that have not been successful in the past, to ensure they can share in the funding.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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In terms of checking whether funding is delivering the intended benefits, the Department does check. There is a rigorous process and we take a very hardline view on it. I do not get involved. I let our officials make sure the applications are done properly. The benefits of the funding are clear to see. I am visiting clubs around the country at the moment, seeing all the projects and sports facilities that have come through the sports capital programme, together with local fundraising and voluntary effort. That is important to acknowledge. The number of facilities that have been put together around the country is absolutely astonishing. Last week, I visited Bandon Athletic Club's track. It is an incredible construction project in a relatively small rural town, driven by and fundraised for by the local athletics club, and with significant funding from the Government. There are examples of that right across the country. Kilmessan hurling and camogie club in my county has an absolutely fabulous facility that has been supported by sports capital funding but very much driven by local fundraising.

We have put a special effort into making sure applications are successful. I focused particularly on football and boxing last summer to ensure they had their own procedures in place to help clubs with applications. We want them to be successful. We will not invalidate applications immediately. Each club will be given a chance to rectify any issues. I urge clubs to seek assistance from their NGB, local Oireachtas Member or LSP if any queries arise. They will get a number of chances to rectify issues during the summer. That in itself delays the process a little, which is why the allocations are made towards the end of the summer. We are giving people a second chance. Even under the equipment grants, there were one or two invalid applications in every county for various reasons. Sometimes, they involved relatively simple mistakes.