Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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146. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his views on sports capital grants, and if his Department has a tracking system in place to follow drawdowns. [22891/25]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department operates two capital funding programmes for sport, namely the Community Sports Facilities Fund (CSFF) and the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF).

Over a quarter of a billion euro was allocated to 3,048 community sports clubs and facilities in 2024 from the 2023 round of the CSFF, representing the largest-ever investment in sports facilities in communities across Ireland.

In addition in 2024, the second round of LSSIF received an unprecedented demand for funding. On 4 November 2024, grants totalling €173 million were awarded to 35 projects

I am committed to ensuring sustained investment in sports facilities to meet our ambitious goals for sports participation nationwide. The Programme for Government commits to maintaining sports funding to get more people participating in all levels of sport, particularly targeting cohorts in society where there are lower than average participation levels including people with disabilities and older people.

The drawdown of grants involves the submission of documentation which is checked by my officials within the Sports Capital Programmes team and must include invoices that detail the work carried out, proof of payment of these invoices by way of bank statements and a signed certificate of compliance with the terms and conditions of the programme.

The attached table shows the total amount allocated in each scheme since 2018 and the amount drawn down to date.