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 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.

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 at the following link www.gov.ie/en/publication/84105-review-of-sports-capital-and-equipment-programme-2020/.

Among the recommendations contained in the published Review is a continued prioritisation of projects that share facilities with other sports and further enhanced.investment in areas of disadvantage. The Review also identifies new areas for consideration including:

• an increase in thresholds for capital grants at both local and regional level

• rewarding projects which include adaptations for persons with disabilities through ring-fenced scores at assessment stage

• rewarding projects which incorporate climate action measures

• expanding the SCEP remit to include applications for upgrades to swimming pools, and

• prioritising applications from areas witnessing significant population growth.

Once the Review was finalised, I asked my officials to draft the "Guide to Making an Application" for the 2023 round to reflect the recommendations in the Review. This work is now complete and yesterday (12 July) Minister Martin and I published the new "Guide to Making an Application" for the 2023 round. We also announced that the Programme itself will be open for applications from 17 July until 8 September and I look forward to seeing a high level of applications for worthwhile sports projects from right across the country.