Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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293. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she can facilitate those who have previously been awarded capital sports grants and have not been in a position to complete the projects due to various reasons; if arrangements can be made to ensure they be given an extension of time to meet their requirements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53867/23]

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 last series of grants were awarded under the 2020 round of the SCEP which closed for applications on Monday 1 March 2021. By the deadline a record 3,106 applications were submitted. The final grants were announced on Tuesday 31 May 2022 and the total allocation of €166.6 million represents the highest level of allocation ever made under the SCEP.

While the priority following the award of those allocations was 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.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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294. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she expects to be in a position to offer capital sports grants in the forthcoming year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53868/23]

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 latest round of the SCEP (2023) closed for applications on Friday 8 September. A preliminary examination of the submitted applications demonstrates that the Programme has again generated a large number of applications and it is evident that the total number will exceed the previous record of 3,106 applications submitted under the last (2020) round.

Work is now underway on finalising the "Scoring System and Assessment Manual" for the 2023 round and I hope to have this published shortly. Simultaneously, I also plan to publish the full list of all applications received by county including the relevant sport type for each application received. Once these documents are published, the detailed assessment work can commence. In this regard, it is planned to assess the "equipment-only" applications first and announce these grants in the coming months. Work will then commence on assessing the capital applications with the allocations likely to be announced later in 2024. In the meantime, there has been ongoing engagement with current grantees to advance existing grants.