Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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26. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if a response will issue to issues raised in correspondence by a local football club (details supplied) with regard to funding issues; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61188/22]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides capital grant assistance for sporting facilities through the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) and the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF).

Under the SCEP, grants are available to community organisations, sports clubs, national governing bodies of sport and local authorities to develop or refurbish sports facilities. .  Over 13,000 projects have now benefited from sports capital funding since 1998, bringing the total allocations in that time to over €1.15 billion.The Programme for Government commits to continuing the SCEP and to prioritising investment in disadvantaged areas.

The 2020 round of the SCEP closed for applications on Monday 1 March 2021 and by the deadline a record 3,106 applications were submitted. The final set of allocations under the 2020 round were announced on Tuesday 31 May 2022 and the total allocation of €166.6 million represented the highest level ever made under the SCEP.  

Following completion of the appeal process, my Department commenced a full review of all aspects of the 2020 round of the SCEP. Drafting of the Review is at an advanced stage and will be published shortly. Any recommendations arising from the Review will be reflected in the terms and conditions of the next round.  Following publication of the Review, I will announce the exact timing of the next round but it is hoped to have it open for applications early in the new year.

Full details of the Programme including a copy of the latest "Guide to Making an Application" (which sets out the terms and conditions of the scheme) are available at the following link: - www.gov.ie/en/service/d13385-sports-capital-programme/#introduction

In addition to the SCEP, the National Sports Policy was published on 25 July 2018 and provided for a new LSSIF. The aim of the fund is to provide Exchequer support for larger sports projects where the required Exchequer investment is greater than the maximum amount available under the SCEP. To date an amount of approximately €86.4 million has been awarded to 33 different proposals. 

While the priority remains to advance all of the successful projects, as it is now two years since the first allocations were made, and in view of the issues faced by grantees as a result of Covid, it was considered timely to review progress on all projects allocated grants. My Department has met with all successful grantees and work is at an advanced stage in terms of completing the Review which is considering, inter alia, a possible new call for proposals. In this regard, I will continue to make the case for further funding for the LSSIF which will allow the consideration of a new call as well as advancing the current design projects to construction stage.