Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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636. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will clarify the reason the ladies' League of Ireland was not successful in securing funding through her Department; if she is aware that all clubs in the ladies' League of Ireland are dependant on their own resources to fund teams; and if, given that ladies' soccer is classed as an elite sport, she will address the imbalance and ensure that ladies' soccer is funded to the same degree as other elite ladies' sports. [27998/23]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Sport Ireland is the statutory body with responsibility for the development of sport, increasing participation at all levels and raising standards, including the allocation of funding under its various programmes. I understand that the FAI made a submission to Sport Ireland in relation to funding for women’s soccer, specifically for its Women's National League, in late 2022 and that submission is still under consideration by Sport Ireland.

It should be noted that the Government and Sport Ireland are continuing to support the FAI in growing the game amongst women and girls. In accordance with the Government’s Memorandum of Understanding with the FAI, funding of €5.8 million is being allocated to the FAI for soccer development each year between 2020 and 2023.

In addition, specific Women in Sport funding is allocated to the FAI through Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport funding programme to increase women’s participation and to progress the FAI’s strategic objectives for women in sport. Funding of €64,000 was provided under this programme for the two years 2021 and 2022. In December 2022, my Department provided an additional funding allocation to Sport Ireland to support a number of initiatives aimed at improving the profile and visibility of female athletes across all sports in 2023, and this included specific supports for women in soccer.

Addressing the participation of women and girls in sport and physical activity is an important element of national sports policy and is a core priority for Minister Martin and I. Along with Sport Ireland, we will continue to promote and encourage greater participation in sport by women and girls.

The Government has provided a current budget allocation of €89.7 million for Sport Ireland for 2023 that will enable the agency to continue to support the sport sector this year, including support for increased participation by women and girls.

The Women in Sport funding programme is an important support for sporting bodies in putting programmes in place to increase women's participation in their sports and to progress their strategic objectives for women in sport. Sport Ireland allocated €4 million under the programme for the 2021-22 with 45 national governing bodies ( NGBs), receiving funding under this investment. A further €265,000 was invested in the local sports partnerships under the programme.

Sport Ireland is currently assessing applications for Women in Sport funding for 2023, and these allocations will be announced shortly. The funding guidelines for the scheme continue to encourage NGBs to develop Women in Sport programmes and initiatives focused on the key areas outlined in Sport Ireland's policy on women in sport.

Sport Ireland launched its women in sport policy in 2019 and will continue to implement the actions and objectives in the policy over the coming years. The Women in Sport policy is aligned to the national sports policy and its aims in terms of active participation are to significantly reduce the active sport participation gradient between men and women and to reduce the dropout by young girls from physical activity and sport.

Sport Ireland is continuing to promote women's and girls' participation in sport through various campaigns, such as the recent "It's My Time" campaign and "HER Outdoors" week. Last March, I was delighted to launch a new campaign established to support, motivate and encourage more teenage girls to be active. The "HER Moves" campaign continues to run nationwide, with a tour throughout the summer featuring six Pop-Up events with opportunities for girls to try a host of activities alongside vibrant music, arts, fashion, and food placing the social aspect at the centre of each event. The Pop-Up tour will bring Her Moves communities and groups together in an inclusive, accessible and fun way and I would encourage people to look at the website hermoves.ie and see how they can get involved.

With regard to capital support, my Department provides grant assistance for sporting facilities through the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) and the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF).

The 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.

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 allocations under the 2020 round were announced on 31 May last year and the total allocation of €166.6 million represents the highest level of allocation ever made under the SCEP. Details of all allocations can be found on the Department's website. Many successful applications will benefit women's soccer and it is important to note that every valid capital application received a grant offer. Furthermore, under the 2020 round, significant extra weighting was given to projects that will benefit female participation

The LSSIF is designed to provide financial support to sports projects where the grant sought is greater than the maximum available under the SCEP. The first allocations under the LSSIF were announced in January 2020 and to date approximately €86.4m has been provisionally awarded to 33 different proposals.

A key consideration in the assessment of any application under the SCEP and the LSSIF is the likelihood of increasing participation including female participation and the government is committed to continued investment in our sport infrastructure in the years ahead. Any future application for funding for projects to benefit women's soccer under either the SCEP or LSSIF will be considered on its own merits in line with the relevant assessment criteria. In this regard, my officials and I continue to engage with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform in relation to the next cycles of the SCEP and LSSIF. Once these discussions are concluded, I will provide an update in respect of any new round of the schemes.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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637. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will confirm that sports capital funding secured by a club (details supplied) can be re-purposed towards another project which also fits within the criteria of sports capital. [28000/23]

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 2022 and included a grant to the club referred to by the Deputy. The total allocation of €166.6 million represents the highest level of allocation ever made under the SCEP.

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 and my Department continues to support and guide grantees 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 provided the proposed new project complies with the terms and conditions of the Programme. Accordingly, the club in question should correspond directly with officials in the Sports Capital Division of my Department in the first instance who will be happy to assist.

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. Full details of all allocations are available at:- www.gov.ie/en/service/4113b3-large-scale-sport-infrastructure-fund-lssif/

The total amount paid out by the Department to date is €3,151,397. The amounts drawn down and the respective projects are as follows:-

· Dalymount Park Redevelopment - €180,410

· Linear Walkways & Playing Pitches, Dunboyne - €1,253,920

· Waterford GAA, Walsh Park Redevelopment - €523,605

· Newcastle West Athletics Hub - €1,193,462

It should be noted that the first LSSIF allocations were announced just prior to the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic gave rise to significant financial challenges for all grantees with many having to reprioritise expenditure plans due to reductions in 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 that were allocated grants and meetings with all grantees have taken place. Outside of this review process, there is also ongoing engagement between my Department and grantees to advance projects to completion stage. It is encouraging that, based on these discussions with grantees, over half of the 33 projects should be in a position to draw down funding this year.