Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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The Department operates two capital funding programmes for sport, namely the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) and the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF).

The SCEP is the government’s primary vehicle for providing support to sports clubs and communities to develop sports infrastructure around the country. The latest round of the SCEP closed for applications on Friday 8 September 2023. A preliminary examination of the submitted applications demonstrates that the programme has again generated a very large number of applications. The total number of 3,210 applications exceeded the record number submitted in the previous round. Applicants for local projects were able to apply for up to €200,000 under this round. The maximum valid grant available for projects deemed to be of regional significance is €500,000.

Separately, the National Sports Policy published in 2018 provided for the establishment of the LSSIF. The aim of the fund is to provide support for larger sports facilities where the Exchequer investment is greater than the maximum amount available under the SCEP. A new round of the LSSIF will open for applications in the first half of 2024, with the dates, terms and conditions to be confirmed in due course. While the LSSIF programme is aimed primarily at the National Governing Bodies of Sport and local authorities it is also open to other bodies, philanthropic funders, clubs and voluntary organisations to apply. However, such applications would necessarily have to be made and prioritised by a local authority and/or a Governing Body. I would encourage all eligible projects to consider applying for this competitive application process when it opens later this year.

Whether or not a project such as the one in question would be eligible for funding would depend on the particulars of the project. Currently SCEP funding of swimming pools is limited to:

• Improvements or renovations to existing, publicly accessible swimming pools;
• Purchase of ‘pop-up’, portable swimming pools;
• Regional Projects where Local Authority are seeking between €200,000 and €500,000 (including improvements to swimming pools).

Under the previous round of the LSSIF, swimming pool applications were accepted but again, the particulars of the project would determine if the project would be eligible for funding (type of site, ownership of the site, economic appraisal, etc).