Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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56. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the timeframe for receipt of applications and announcement of successful projects under the €50 million large scale infrastructure fund; and the criteria that will apply for the type of projects that can be received. [25412/18]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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96. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when a request for expressions of interest in the large scale projects under the sports capital programme will be issued. [25205/18]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 56 and 96 together.

The recently published National Development Plan (NDP) contains a commitment to establish a new “Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund” (LSSIF) with at least €100m available over the coming years. There is no funding provided for the programme in 2018. The amounts to be provided in 2019 and subsequently will be decided in the context of the annual estimates process.

In relation to the design of the scheme, my officials have been engaging with relevant stakeholders on the proposed terms and conditions of the new scheme in recent weeks. It is intended that the Fund will be for larger projects where the proposed Government contribution exceeds the amount currently available for individual projects under the Sports Capital Programme. At this stage, it is envisaged that the fund will be initially focused on the National Governing Bodies of Sport and Local Authorities and all projects will need to be fully compliant with the Public Spending Code and EU State Aid regulations. The possibility of adopting a two stream approach to cover both projects nearing construction stage but also those at an earlier stage of planning is also being actively considered. 

My officials hope to have the draft terms and conditions of the new scheme finalised shortly and an announcement in relation to when applications will be accepted will be made once this work is complete.