Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 525 to 527, inclusive, together.

Each of the organisations referred to by the Deputy made applications under the 2017 sports capital programme, SCP, but were deemed invalid at assessment stage for reasons which were notified to the clubs. All applicants deemed invalid or partially invalid were invited to appeal the Department’s decision if it was felt that an error had been made in the assessment process.  149 appeals were submitted and of these 35 appeals were upheld. Appeals were upheld where the appellant demonstrated that the Department erred in its decision to make the application invalid, where it was agreed that the Department's own guide to making an application was not sufficiently clear or where it was felt the original decision involved an overly strict interpretation of the SCP terms and conditions. The appeals submitted by the organisations referred to by the Deputy were not upheld however and the clubs have been informed of this decision.

All clubs with applications that remain invalid have been informed that they can resubmit their 2017 application, along with any corrected documentation to make their application valid for the next round of the SCP without the necessity of submitting a full new application. I expect an announcement will be made shortly regarding when the new round of the programme will be open for applications.