Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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291. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when payment of outstanding grants can be made to a club (details supplied) at the earliest possible date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42898/21]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The club referred to by the Deputy was provisionally allocated a grant of €81,500 under the 2017 Sports Capital Programme (SCP) for the development of an artificial playing surface and a further €83,343 under the 2018 SCP towards the provision of floodlights and non-personal sports equipment. In accordance with the terms and conditions of the SCP and due to the level of grants received by the club in the past, it is necessary to put in place a number of legal deeds in order to protect the public investment in the facility. Legal formalities in relation to this grant have not yet been finalised as the Chief State Solicitor's Office (CSSO) is still awaiting the required documentation from the grantee's solicitor. It will not be possible to provide formal approval of the grants until the CSSO confirms that all legal formalities have been completed. Once the CSSO receives the outstanding documentation and confirms receipt of same, there will be no undue delay in paying the grants subject to the other necessary documentation being submitted by the club.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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292. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when she expects the sports capital grant scheme awards to be announced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42910/21]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) is the primary vehicle for Government support for the development of sports and physical recreation facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment throughout the country. The 2020 round of the SCEP closed for applications on Monday 1st March 2021. By the closing date, over 3,100 applications were submitted seeking over €200m in funding. This is the highest number of applications ever received.

The scoring system and assessment procedures was published earlier this year and all applications are being assessed in accordance with these. Approximately one thousand of the submitted applications were for "equipment only" projects. These applications were assessed first and €16.6m worth of grants were announced on the 6th August.

The remaining applications for capital works are now being assessed. Given the large number of applications received, this work is likely to take a number of months to complete with allocations expected to be announced before the end of this year.