Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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55. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if her attention has been drawn to the case of a club (details supplied) and the need to upgrade existing pitch facilities to accommodate the growing club; and if she will consider a visit to the club to meet the board to discuss its strategy going forward. [47101/21]

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 were published earlier this year and all applications are being assessed accordingly. Approximately one thousand of the submitted applications were for 'equipment-only' projects. These applications were assessed first and grants with a total value of €16.6m were announced on the 6th August.

The remaining applications for capital works, including an application from the club referenced by the Deputy, 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.

Subject to diary commitments, when visiting any area I endeavour to engage with as many sports clubs as possible and would be happy to visit the club at the next suitable opportunity.