Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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379. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will provide an update on the joint Ireland and UK bid to host the UEFA EURO 2028 competition; the level of support the Government has guaranteed if the bid is successful; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12562/23]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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The football associations in the UK and Ireland announced in February 2022 their intent to bid to jointly-host the UEFA European Championships in 2028.

On 22 March 2022, the Government decided to support an Expression of Interest from the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) in jointly hosting the EURO 2028 tournament. To that end, my Department has been engaging closely with the FAI, Dublin City Council, other Government Departments and agencies and UK partners in order to better evaluate the case for bidding for Euro 2028.

Following an extensive examination of the costs and benefits to Ireland of hosting the tournament, the Government decided on Tuesday 15 November 2022 to support the FAI’s submission of a joint preliminary bid with UK partners to host EURO 2028. Preliminary bid dossiers were submitted to UEFA on 16 November 2022.

UEFA requires Government support across a number of areas, and my officials are co-ordinating on this with key partners. The Department is currently working with the FAI, Dublin City Council, other Government Departments and agencies together with our UK partners to prepare as strong as possible a bid that will underpin the hosting of a fantastic tournament in 2028.

UEFA has set a deadline of 12 April 2023 for the submission of Final Bid Dossiers and it is our intention to bring the outcome of the Department’s further examination of all aspects of the project to Government for a decision before that deadline.