Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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27. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the position regarding the development projects announced for the national sports campus; when the national velodrome and badminton centre and the national cricket stadium will be built; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36859/24]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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An ambitious vision for the development of a national sports centre of excellence is set out under the National Sports Campus Masterplan and the Government will continue to support Sport Ireland in bringing this vision to fruition.

A National Velodrome and Badminton Centre and a National Cricket Stadium are important elements of the Campus Masterplan and I recently granted approval for Sport Ireland to progress both developments.

The National Velodrome and Badminton Centre will comprise of a 250 metre cycling track and up to 12 badminton courts in the in-track area, in addition to spectator seating and ancillary facilities. The Centre will provide world-class track cycling facilities for our athletes who currently have to travel abroad for both training and competition, as well as providing the sport of badminton with integrated training, gym and medical facilities. Planning permission for this project was awarded by Fingal County Council in January 2023 and Sport Ireland is now proceeding to tender stage. It is expected that construction will begin in 2025, with a likely completion date of mid-2027.

The proposed National Cricket Stadium will deliver a permanent home for international cricket in Ireland that meets International Cricket Council requirements and standards. The facility is expected to include a high performance centre, an arena for holding major games with associated media and spectator facilities and headquarter offices for Cricket Ireland. The facilities will be focussed on elite teams and high performance but will also be accessible for use by teams and players at a range of levels, including youth and local teams.The facility will play an important role in Cricket Ireland's plans to deliver on its co-hosting responsibilities with England, Wales and Scotland for the 2030 T20 World Cup. This project is now at pre-tender planning and design phase. The project will be delivered on a phased basis, with Phase 1 scheduled to commence in 2025 and to be completed in 2028.

The National Sports Campus is already a world-leading athlete focused facility and this next phase of its development will further enhance Ireland’s sporting infrastructure.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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28. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she expects to continue to pursue the provision of sporting and recreational facilities in an even and balanced way throughout the country, having particular regard to the areas of rapidly expanding population; if she is inclined to invigorate such proposals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36953/24]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Capital funding for sport facilities is provided by the Department though the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) and the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF).

I am conscious of the growing demand for such funding and of the specific impact of population increases. The 2020 round of the SCEP attracted a record 3,106 applications with a total of €166.6 million allocated to the programme.

After every recent round of the SCEP, a review is undertaken with a view to making recommendations on how to improve the programme for future calls. The review of the 2020 programme identified new areas for focus including prioritising applications from areas witnessing significant population growth. Accordingly, the "Scoring System and Assessment Manual" for the 2023 SCEP round includes criteria to address the issue of population growth

On 9 May 2024, Minister Martin and I announced over €26 million in equipment grants under the latest round of the SCEP. These grants have been provisionally allocated to organisations across the country and to over fifty sports and activities.

On 29 May 2024, Minister Martin and I were pleased to confirm that at least €250 million is to be made available for capital projects under the 2023 round of the SCEP. This was on foot of positive engagement on revised allocations for the National Development Plan with the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, Paschal Donohoe T.D., which facilitated this largest-ever investment in sports facilities across the country.

The funding now available represents a 50% increase on the funding allocated in early 2022 under the 2020 round of the SCEP and it should mean positive allocation decisions for all valid applications under the current 2023 Programme. The assessment of funding applications for capital projects, is now at an advanced stage and I expect to announce allocations soon.

The National Sports Policy 2018 – 2027 provided for the establishment of a new Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) with the aim of providing support to sports facilities where the Exchequer investment is greater than the maximum amount available under the SCEP. The first allocations under the LSSIF were announced in January 2020 with €86.4 million awarded to 33 different projects across the country. Additional funding of €37.6 million was allocated to 27 of these projects in December 2023, bringing the total awarded to date to LSSIF-funded projects to €124 million.

Since June 2023, a number of LSSIF-funded projects have opened to the public and these include the Linear Walkway and Playing Fields Project in Meath, phase 1 of the Walsh Park redevelopment in Waterford, the Regional Athletics Hub in Limerick, Dundalk Leisure Centre Facilities Refurbishment project, and the MTU Athletics Track in Cork. A number of other LSSIF projects are due to be completed or significantly progressed this year. Examples include the Connacht Rugby project and the redevelopment of St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge, Kildare.

Minister Martin and I announced funding of up to €120 million under the new round of the LSSIF (LSSIF 2024) which closed for applications on 1 July 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. The assessment of applications is underway and it is clear that this round of the LSSIF has generated significantly more applications and a much higher volume of demand than the first round.

Deliverability is a key factor in the LSSIF assessment process and I look forward to seeing the LSSIF helping to deliver a range of key sports facilities in the coming period across the country.