Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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405. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the direct funding and or grant aid that is available to sports clubs from her Department; if she will clarify whether she funds local authorities to grant assist sports clubs. [26535/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The main source of state funding for sporting organisations is through Sport Ireland and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. That Department administers the Sports Capital Programme which is the primary vehicle for government support for the development of sports and physical recreation facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment throughout the country.

While my Department has no specific funding streams aimed at sports clubs either directly or through the Local Authorities, some schemes administered by my Department may accept applications from sporting organisation in the context of their role as community and voluntary organisations. This is subject to meeting the relevant conditions of the funding scheme, which can change from one call to the next.

Examples of such programmes are the LEADER Programme, the CLÁR Programme, the Local Enhancement Programme and the Community Recognition Fund. A number of sports clubs and leisure facilities have successfully obtained funding from such schemes, often in terms of their input to community development within their area, and I would encourage all potential applications to explore these funding options. Details of each of these programmes are available at www.gov.ie.