Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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280. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the date for the next round of sports capital funding. [17428/22]

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 recreation facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment throughout the country. Over 13,000 projects have now benefited from sports capital funding since 1998, bringing the total allocations in that time to over €1.1 billion. The Programme for Government commits to continuing the SCEP and to prioritising investment in disadvantaged areas.

The 2020 round of the Programme closed for applications on 1 March 2021. By this date, 3,106 applications were submitted seeking over €200 million in funding. This is the highest number of applications ever received.

Approximately one thousand of the submitted applications were for 'equipment-only' projects. These applications were assessed first and grants with a total value of €16.6 million were announced on 6 August 2021. The remaining capital applications were then assessed and 1,865 individual grant offers with a total value of over €143.8 million were announced on Friday 11 February 2022.

Currently my Department is assessing appeals from unsuccessful applicants. The deadline for submission of appeals was Monday 4 April 2022. Of the record €150 million made available for capital projects, €6 million has been kept in reserve for any successful appeals.

When the appeal process is complete, a full review of the 2020 round of the SCEP will be undertaken and recommendations arising will be reflected in the terms and conditions of the next round. The precise timing of this next round of the Programme will be announced once this review is complete.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm an appeal has been lodged by the club mentioned by the Deputy.

€6 million has been kept in reserve for any successful appeals lodged by unsuccessful applicants and Departmental officials, not involved in the original assessment process, will review all appeals submitted and determine the outcome of those appeals. The timeline for completion of the process will depend on the volume and complexity of appeals submitted but there will be no undue delay on the Department’s part in bringing the appeals process to a close.