Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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310. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will introduce a grants scheme for local football clubs to cover ongoing running and administrative expenses in view of the fact that their capacity to raise funds during the Covid-19 pandemic is very limited; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25445/20]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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A funding package of up to €70 million was announced on 19th June to support the sport sector, which has been significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The funding package will be administered by Sport Ireland, which is the statutory body with responsibility for the development of sport. This funding package includes;

- Funding of up to €40m for the three main field sports organisations – the FAI, the GAA and the IRFU.

- a Resilience Fund of up to €10m to support the National Governing Bodies of Sport,

- a Sports Club Resilience Fund of up to €15m to support clubs, and

- a Sports Restart and Renewal Fund of up to €5m.

The funding will be administered by Sport Ireland and will be invested through new grant schemes with Sport Ireland’s recognised funding partners, i.e. National Governing Bodies of Sport, Local Sports Partnerships and other funded sporting organisations.

The closing date for applications to be submitted to Sport Ireland from funded organisations was Monday 14 September. It is anticipated that an announcement of funding allocations will be made by Sport Ireland in October, dependent on the level of applications received.

Sport Ireland will engage directly with the Football Association of Ireland in respect of grant funding for the association and its affiliated clubs under these grant funding schemes.