Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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42. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht with regards to the Centre of Excellence in Glanmire, if she can outline the position in relation to entitlements and conditions of the grant funding; if she will provide an update on future plans for a centre of excellence in Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23287/23]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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The Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) was launched in 2018 to provide Exchequer support for larger sports facility projects with at least €100 million being made available over the period to 2027.

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI), with the support of Cork County Council, submitted an application under the LSSIF for construction funding for Phase 1 of the Munster Football Centre of Excellence in Glanmire. The first allocations under the LSSIF were announced in January 2020 and included an allocation of €2,025,699 for the Glanmire project. Details of all the LSSIF allocations can be found on my Department's website.

The grant for the Glanmire project was provisionally awarded to cover, inter alia, the development of grass pitches, floodlighting, an artificial pitch and dressing rooms. The FAI recently wrote to my Department stating that the FAI Board and Executive had made the decision not to proceed with the Glanmire project. In this regard the FAI stated that the original proposal no longer represented the greatest return on investment for all parties involved.

It should be noted however, that the FAI has also stated that it remains committed to supporting the development of a Munster Centre of Excellence facility in the Cork region. In this regard, the Association advised that it will continue to work with Cork City FC and other stakeholders to seek a new location for the Munster Centre of Excellence facility and will inform my Department once a site is identified.

My Department urgently awaits a new proposal and will review it in accordance with the LSSIF guidelines.