Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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154. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the way in which his Department supports play and play facilities nationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48702/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department operates the Play and Recreation Capital grant scheme, which provides funding, via Local Authorities, to support the development of new recreation facilities for children and young people, and for the refurbishment of existing play and recreation facilities and incorporation of natural play elements.

Under this scheme, each of the 31 Local Authorities can make one application with a maximum of 3 projects for the refurbishment of existing playgrounds or development of a new playground. This year, applications were received from all 31 Local Authorities for 52 projects and a total of €450,000 was awarded by my Department. This year’s scheme was opened to applications from Local Authorities on April 1, with a closing date of April 22

Criteria for the scheme are developed in partnership with the Local Authority Play and Recreation Network (LAPRN), established for the purpose of bringing a focus on play and recreation within each Local Authority.

One of the key criteria that is measured and scored during this process is Accessibility & Inclusivity; under this criteria we require Local Authorities to indicate how improvements to facilities and equipment for which funding is sought will:

- improve access/inclusivity to the park/facility for children and young people with additional needs, and

- provide access/inclusivity to the play equipment for all children

Having accessibility included as a funding criteria encourages Local Authorities to include projects for consideration that are primarily geared towards accessibility/inclusivity. This year for example, we approved funding for a number of projects to incorporate basket swing and wheelchair accessible swings into existing playgrounds.

In addition to the Play and Recreation Capital scheme, my Department also allocated €87k to Local Authorities in relation to National Play Day 2021, which took place in July of this year.

The aim of National Play Day is to promote play opportunities for children and young people across the country, with this year’s theme being Playful Communities.The National Play Day grant scheme is one part of the wider Summer of Play campaign; a government-led initiative designed to remind everyone, young and old, of the fundamental importance of play.

My Department received applications from 29 Local Authorities for this funding. All applicants qualified for the maximum amount of funding available - €3,000 per Local Authority (which represents a 50% increase on the funding available to each Local Authority under this scheme in 2020).

The applications approved for funding enabled Local Authorities to deliver play opportunities for a diverse range of children and young people in the community. Numerous approved applications entailed play packs being purchased and targeted for disbursement to a number of harder to reach children, including traveller children, children with additional needs, children residing in women's refuge centres and children residing in direct provision centres.

Additionally a diverse range of outdoor activities were targeted at all children and young people in the respective Local Authority communities.

The Summer of Play campaign, referred to earlier,included a capital grant programme to enhance outdoor provision in early learning and care and school age services. There were 3,689 approved applications with a total spend of €4,597,500.

A grant was also offered to support new and existing Parent and Toddler groups. Support included guidance on settings up Parent and Toddler Groups. Applications were approved for a total of €177,651.