Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department operates two capital funding programmes for sport, namely the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) and the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). Both of these capital programmes are demand-driven.

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. Grants are available to voluntary, not-for profit sports clubs, community groups, NGBs, and local authorities. Third level colleges, Education and Training Boards (ETBs) and schools may apply for funding provided that they do so jointly with external sports clubs or community organisations.

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 attracted 3,106 applications with a total of €166.6 million allocated to the Programme.

The latest round of the SCEP (2023) closed for applications on Friday, 8 September 2023 and generated a record number of 3,210 applications. While no application has been received in respect of UCC under the current round, there are over 350 applications from County Cork, seeking €40.5 million in total. Within this cohort, athletics-specific applications have been received from seven applicants in county Cork.

The "Scoring System and Assessment Manual" for the 2023 round has been finalised and published along with a list of all applications received by county including the relevant sport type for each application received. The detailed assessment work has commenced and 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 to be announced later.

Separately, the National Sports Policy published in 2018 provided for the establishment of the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (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. In December 2023, additional funding amounting to €37.6 million to 27 existing LSSIF projects, was announced bringing the total awarded to date to LSSIF-funded projects to €124 million. This additional funding for projects was provided, in response to delays experienced by grantees arising from the pandemic and construction inflation.

One of the largest projects funded to date under LSSIF is the “Athletics Ireland and Munster Technological University (Formerly CIT) Community Sport Project” for the development of an Arena (Phase 1), Track Upgrade (Phase 2) and High Performance Athletic Centre (Phase 3) on the Bishopstown campus of the University. The project was awarded LSSIF funding of €9.225 million in January 2020 and additional funding in December 2023 of €5,094,830, bringing the LSSIF funding total for this project to €14.3 million for all three phases. Phase 1 is now complete and Phase 2 – Track Upgrade - is due to be completed this summer with preparatory work on Phase 3 progressing.

A new round of the LSSIF will open for applications in the coming weeks, 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.