Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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88. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will report on the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme; the cumulative funding provided under the scheme since 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38066/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme, or ORIS, is funded by my Department as part of the Rural Development Investment Programme.

It is an important contributor to “Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors”, our national outdoor recreation strategy. The scheme provides funding for the development and enhancement of outdoor recreational infrastructure such as walking trails, cycleways, blue ways, mountain access routes and open water facilities at rivers, lakes and beaches.

Since 2020, funding of over €85 million has been approved for more than 1,000 outdoor amenities across the country. These new and improved facilities are a vital outlet for both residents and tourists. I recently opened two ORIS projects in Kilkenny - the Woodstock Gardens and Arboretum and the Jenkinstown Wood trails. These projects each received €200,000 in ORIS funding, and I was delighted to see first hand how this funding is delivering innovative projects of the absolute highest quality in our rural communities.

The 2024/2025 scheme was launched on 17th October last with an allocation of €20 million.

Applications were invited under four measures.

• Measure one supports small scale projects providing funding of up to €40,000.
• Measure two focuses on medium scale projects and here applicants can seek funding up to €200,000.
• Measure three provides funding for larger scale projects with funding of up to €500,000 available.
• The Project Development Measure provides applicants with funding for the pre-development work required to bring projects to a shovel-ready stage. This measure aims to deliver a pipeline of well-developed project applications in the years ahead.