Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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317. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if a capital sports grant appeal by a club (details supplied) will be examined. [28837/20]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The Sports Capital Programme (SCP) is the primary vehicle for Government support for the development of sports and recreation facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment throughout the country. The Programme for Government commits to continuing the SCP and to prioritise the investment in disadvantaged areas.

The organisation referred to by the Deputy submitted an application under the 2018 round of the SCP. Due to the high level of demand, the bottom scoring 25% of applications in each county were not considered for funding and unfortunately the application from the club in question was not recommended for a grant. The club was informed of the detail of their assessment score and invited to appeal if it was felt that my Department had made a mistake in the assessment. The organisation submitted an appeal which was considered by officials not involved in the original assessment. No changes were recommended on foot of the appeal and the club was informed of this in April 2020.

The appeal's process has now closed for the 2018 SCP and no further appeals are being accepted. It is expected that a new round of the SCP will be open for applications in the near future and it will be open for the club in question to again apply for funding. In this regard, all registered organisations will be contacted directly informing them of the dates when applications will be accepted.