Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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287. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when the next round of the sports capital and equipment programme will open to new applicants; if the review of the previous round has been presented to her; if a budget for the next round has been agreed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18919/23]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, 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 €1.15 billion. The Programme for Government commits to continuing the SCEP and to prioritising investment in disadvantaged areas.

The final grants under the latest round were announced were announced on Tuesday 31 May last year and the total allocation of €166.6 million for the 2020 round represents the highest level of allocation ever made under the SCEP. The priority in the short term is to advance the successful applications to "formal approval" and grant drawdown stage and my Department continues to support and guide grantees from past rounds as they manage their grants.

With regard to the timing of the next round, following completion of the appeal process, my Department commenced a full review of all aspects of the 2020 round of the SCEP. A draft of the Review has been provided to me and I hope to publish the finalised Review shortly. Any recommendations arising from the Review will be reflected in the next round. My officials are engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in relation to the launch of the next cycle of the SCEP. Once this engagement is concluded, I will announce the exact dates from which new applications will be accepted. In relation to the funding available to allocate, I will continue to engage with my colleague, Minister Paschal Donohoe to maximise the total funding envelope available for the Programme in the years ahead. Clearly the level of demand will be a key determinant but every effort will be made to fund as many worthwhile projects as possible while providing a sufficient level of grant to ensure the projects are viable .

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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288. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when the next round of the large scale-sporting infrastructure fund will open to new applicants; if a budget for the next round has been agreed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18920/23]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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The National Sports Policy was published in 2018 and provided for the establishment of a Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). The first call for proposals under the LSSIF closed in 2019 with applications confined to local authorities and National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of Sport. All applications were assessed in accordance with the published Evaluation Procedures and Guidelines and the first allocations were announced in January 2020. Thus far, approximately €86.4 million has been awarded to 33 different proposals.

It should be noted that the first LSSIF allocations were announced just prior to the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic obviously gave rise to significant financial challenges for all grantees with many of them having to reprioritise their own expenditure plans due to reductions in their income streams. In more recent times, the high level of construction inflation has also presented considerable challenges for grantees. In view of these issues, it was considered timely to review progress on all projects allocated grants and meetings with all grantees have taken place. It is encouraging that, based on these discussions with grantees, 22 of the 33 projects should be in a position to draw down funding this year. Accordingly, I expect to see significant progress on many of the LSSIF projects in the short term. As part of the Review, my Department is also considering the timing of any new call for proposals. The review work is at an advanced stage and is expected to be finalised shortly.