Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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38. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which award of further sports grants is anticipated in the coming year; the extent to which those who were beneficiaries in the past three years, and found themselves unable to complete the works, can be accommodated by time extension or top-up; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23524/23]

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 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 grants were announced on Tuesday 31 May last and the total allocation of €166.6 million represents the highest level of allocation ever made under the SCEP.

While the priority in recent months has been to advance the successful applications, which number almost 2,900, under the 2020 round to "formal approval" and grant drawdown stage, my Department continues to support and guide grantees from past rounds as they manage their grants. This requires detailed engagement with all grantees and, where necessary, requests for extensions and changes of purpose of grants can usually be accommodated.

Following completion of the appeal process, my Department commenced a full review of all aspects of the 2020 round of the SCEP. This Review has now been published and is available on the Department’s website.

Now that the Review has been finalised, I have asked my officials to draft the "Guide to Making an Application" for the 2023 round to reflect the recommendations in the Review. Once completed, the Guide will be published on my Department's website.

Furthermore, my officials and I continue to engage with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform in relation to the launch of the next cycle of the SCEP.

In relation to the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Scheme (LSSIF), Minister Martin and I are currently also considering whether additional resources could be provided to projects in need of further assistance and whether a new round of the LSSIF could be opened in due course. There is ongoing engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in this regard and in the context of budgetary and NDP review discussions. Once these discussions are concluded, I will provide an update in respect of the LSSIF.