Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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23. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will provide an update on large scale sports infrastructure funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24301/24]

Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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24. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the position regarding the details of the recently announced funding of up to €120 million under the Large-Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24033/24]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 24 together.

The National Sports Policy was published on 25 July 2018 and provided for a Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). The aim of the fund is to provide Exchequer support for larger sports facility projects.

These are projects where the Exchequer investment would be greater than the maximum amount available under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP). In some cases, these may be projects where the primary objective will be to increase active participation in sport. In other cases, these may be large scale venues/stadia where the focus is more related to social participation and high performance sport.

Since 1998, over 13,000 projects have now benefited from sports capital funding, bringing the total allocations in that time to over €1.15 billion. From the Government’s perspective, if we are to achieve our ambitious targets and get as many people participating in sport as possible we need the necessary facilities which are currently being provided under SCEP and LSSIF. Similarly, if we are to develop our elite sportspeople we need to invest at grassroots level.

Minister Martin and I were delighted to recently announce over €26 million in equipment grants under the latest round of the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme. Over 900 sports groups were successful in their applications for various types of equipment and this funding will be of practical benefit to multiple sports organisations, their members and athletes across Ireland.

In addition to the above capital funding, Minister Martin and I were also pleased to recently announce funding of up to €120 million for a new round of the LSSIF which opened for applications on 26 April 2024. Assessment of applications, for funding of between €600,000 and €30 million, will take into account such factors as population size, sustainability, and ensuring that similar access is provided to accommodate access by men and women to LSSIF-funded facilities.

A new round of LSSIF funding also means we can build on the progress made to date under LSSIF and ensure projects across the country get an opportunity to deliver the facilities that their communities need and will enjoy for decades to come.

Tomorrow, Friday 31 May, I will be officially opening a LSSIF-funded project in Dunboyne which will see three juvenile sports playing fields being used by players from St Peter's GAA club and that will also be available to school children during the school term for school blitzes and other sporting activities. It's vital that

While the LSSIF scheme is aimed primarily at National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and local authorities it is also open to other bodies (including third level institutions, Education and Training Boards), philanthropic funders, clubs and voluntary organisations to apply but such applications would necessarily have to be made and prioritised by a local authority and/or an NGB.

The LSSIF programme is application-led and any applications received from NGBs and local authorities will be reviewed and considered against eligibility and scoring criteria. Successful applications will be decided following a rigorous assessment process with the highest-scoring applications receiving grant offers. A guide for applicants is also available on my Department's website and officials recently held an information webinar which was open to all NGBs and local authorities to attend.

Finally, distribution of funding will be in line with the objectives outlined in the National Planning Framework, dependent on the volume and quality of applications received from across the regions. There will also be an emphasis on the allocation of funding to a variety of sports.

Applications for the 2024 round of LSSIF must be submitted by 3pm on 1 July 2024. I encourage all eligible projects to consider applying for this competitive application process.