Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

29. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht whether the National Development Plan has sufficiently taken into account and is adequately resourced to meet the growing demand for sports facilities, particularly with the very considerable and welcome growth of women’s sports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17859/24]

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

The Government recently agreed revised capital allocations under the National Development Plan totalling €2.25 billion out to 2026. The additional allocations of capital funding to 2026 will support key projects and programmes under the NDP such as the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) operated by my Department. The revised NDP capital allocations for my Department will allow for significant funding of the 2023 round of the SCEP.

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 latest round of the SCEP closed for applications on Friday 8 September 2023. 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 exceeds the record number submitted under the last round in 2020 and the total funding applied for is €359 million, representing an 80% increase over the amount applied for in the 2020 SCEP.

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, Minister Martin and I announced additional funding amounting to €37.6 million to 27 existing LSSIF projects, bringing the total awarded to date to LSSIF-funded projects to €124 million.

On 3 April Minister Martin and I published the ‘Review of the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund’ and the new ‘Similar Access Requirement’. The review outlines the issues faced by LSSIF projects to date, and provides recommendations in relation to a new round of LSSIF. The five recommendations include a focus on population and sustainability criteria, reducing administrative overheads, the level of grant aid funding required to deliver projects, similar access for men and women and guiding principles in respect of stadiums and large-scale sports facilities.

The new Similar Access Requirement necessitates that recipients of LSSIF funding must accommodate the needs of women and men, on a similar basis, with respect to accessing facilities that have been allocated public funding. Any organisation that is in receipt of LSSIF funding must have a similar access policy in place.

On 26 April 2024, Minister Martin and I announced funding of up to €120 million under the new round of the LSSIF which is open for applications until 3pm on Monday 1 July 2024.

While this new round of the programme is again aimed primarily at local authorities and National Governing Bodies of sport (NGBs), it is also open to other bodies, such as sports clubs, voluntary organisations, Education and Training Boards (ETBs) and third level institutions to apply once such applications are be submitted and prioritised by a local authority and/or a NGB. In this regard, all local authorities and NGBs are asked to engage constructively with any such requests from outside bodies in order to ensure that all potential projects which best achieve the Fund’s objectives get due consideration.

The current round takes the recommendations from the published review into consideration. A guide and frequently asked questions (FAQ) section is available on my Department's website for potential applicants to review. The Department also recently organised a webinar for all interested NGBs and local authorities at which officials provided an overview of the scheme. The slides from this webinar are also available on my Department's website.

I encourage all eligible projects to consider applying for this competitive application process.