Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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804. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will provide a schedule of funding that her Department made available for the provision of sports courts and or all-weather playing surfaces by local authority for the years 2021 and to date in 2022; and the estimated amount for same in 2023. [57328/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Under the umbrella of Our Rural Future, funding for sports courts and all-weather pitches has been provided through my Department's Community Enhancement Programme, Community Activities Fund, LEADER Programme and the CLÁR Programme.

Funding was available in 2021 under the Community Enhancement Programme (CEP) and the once off Community Activities Fund (CAF). The CEP 2021 provided funding of €4.5m providing small capital grants to community groups to enhance their facilities and towards the reopening of facilities after the COVID 19 pandemic. Additionally in 2021 the €9m CAF was launched to support community groups impacted by COVID-19. This fund supported groups, particularly in disadvantaged areas, with their running/operating costs such as utility or insurance bills, as well as with improvements to their facilities. My Department does not have records regarding the specific funding that was invested in sports courts and all-weather pitches under these initiatives.

Funding under my Department’sLEADER programme is not targeted at any particular group or sector. Rather, it is focused on a thematic approach to rural development under the headings of Economic Development, Enterprise Development and Job Creation; Social Inclusion; and the Rural Environment. Within this approach, funding has been provided under LEADER for sports courts and all-weather pitches. Decisions on the nature of the projects to be supported and the funding to be awarded are solely a matter for each independent Local Action Group. The Department does not, therefore, capture details of funding approved specifically for sports courts and or all-weather playing surfaces.

Last week, I announced the Community Support Fund (CSF) with €10m to provide small grants to a wide and diverse range of local community groups to assist with their running costs. Groups can also use the funding to carry out small upgrade works and to purchase equipment to support their activities. The fund will be administered by Local Community Development Committees (LCDC) and groups should contact their LCDC for further information.

The CLÁR programme is a targeted investment programme that funds small infrastructural projects in rural areas that have experienced significant levels of de-population. Since its re-launch in 2016, it has made significant investments at community level, with approved funding of some 2,100 projects in excess of €57 million. A specific measure under CLÁR 2022 supported the development of community facilities and amenities. Funding supported both the provision of new facilities and the upgrading of existing facilities. As the CLÁR measures are reviewed and revised annually, I am not in a position to provide estimates in respect of the specified funding for 2023. I have set out in the table beneath details of sports courts and all-weather playing surfaces supported under the CLÁR programme in 2021 and 2022.

In addition, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media's Sports Capital and Equipment Programme provides grants to assist in the development or refurbishment of sports facilities, including sports courts and all-weather pitches.

CLÁR- Sports courts and all-weather playing surfaces