Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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673. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when a decision will be made on appeals to the large-scale capital programmes; and if he will review an appeal by Westmeath County Council for a regional sports centre. [12845/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The National Sports Policy was published in 2018 and provided for a new Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). The aim of the fund is to provide Exchequer support for larger sports capital  project where the Exchequer investment is greater than the maximum amount available under the Sports Capital Programme. The first grants under the new scheme were announced in January of this year.

Westmeath County Council submitted an application for funding towards the design of a regional sports centre in Mullingar.  The total funding applied for under the scheme significantly exceeded the funding available and the application in question did not score sufficiently highly to warrant a provisional allocation. 

All unsuccessful applicants were given the opportunity to appeal the Department’s decision. All appeals have now been assessed by officials who were not involved in the initial assessment process and a  final decision on the appeals will be made shortly.