Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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483. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of the next sports capital grants programme for large scale projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53763/18]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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The National Development Plan (NDP) and the National Sports Policy contain a commitment to establish a new “Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund” (LSSIF) with at least €100 million available over the coming years.

The LSSIF opened for applications on 19th November and the closing date for applications is the 17th April 2019. Full details of the scheme and application forms are available on my Department's website at .

The aim of the fund is to provide Exchequer support for larger sports facility projects where the Exchequer investment would be greater than the maximum amount available under the Sports Capital Programme (SCP). Initially, the scheme is confined to National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) and Local Authorities.

The scheme outlines the types of projects that are eligible for assistance but is not prescriptive. Funds for the scheme are limited and applicants should be aware that it is a competitive process. Simply meeting the minimum criteria under the headings set out in the scheme will not guarantee funding.

All project proposals will be subject to appropriate economic analysis. It is a requirement of the scheme that all applicants can show a minimum own funding of 30% of the overall project cost. Furthermore all NGB's and local authorities will be asked to prioritise the applications which they submit.