Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1340. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the amount of funding that was last awarded by his Department to support female sports at both national and local levels that promote one club ethos; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41954/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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Female participation in sport is an important element of both the National Sports Policy 2018-2027 and its associated Sports Action Plan 2024-2027 and represents a core priority for me and my Department.

This Government is committed to a "Sport for All" approach aimed at ensuring that all persons can partake equally in sport and physical activity, regardless of gender. This commitment is reaffirmed in the Programme for Government and is also reflected in Sport Ireland's Women in Sport Policy.

The Women In Sport (WIS) funding programme, administered by Sport Ireland, was first established in 2005 and since then over €30 million has been invested through the National Governing Bodies of Sport and the Local Sports Partnerships.

Last month Sport Ireland announced an investment of €4 million under the WIS Programme for 2025. This is vital funding to support sporting bodies, and my Department will continue to support programmes to increase women’s participation in all sports and to progress strategic objectives for women in sport across all areas including active participation, coaching, officiating, and leadership.

The Programme for Government commits to supporting the sporting ecosystem so more people can participate in sport and reap the associated benefits. This will be achieved through a range of measures including continuing to to work with sporting organisations to promote equality of access to sporting facilities and to drive increased participation in sport

Organisations applying to the Community Sport Facilities Fund (CSFF) must be open to new members and must not have any restrictions on who may join or obtain full membership. All CSFF applicants must agree that, from the date of the grant, they will not deny anybody access to any facility on the basis of gender. In addition, the Large-Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) requires that recipients of LSSIF funding must accommodate the needs of women and men, on a similar basis, with respect to accessing the facilities.

As Minister for Sport, I will continue to tackle issues to ensure that women’s sport reaches parity with its male equivalent and that females do not drop out of sport due to a lack of adequate training facilities or access to opportunities.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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1341. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the timeline for when 2024 sports capital grants will be received by successful organisation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42127/25]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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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 Community Sport Facilities Fund (CSFF), representing the largest-ever investment in sports facilities in communities across Ireland.

Provisional allocations to equipment-only projects were announced on 16 May 2024 and applicants were advised that they should demonstrate a substantial amount of progress on their project to facilitate the drawdown of the grant by the end of June 2025.

Provisional allocations to capital projects were announced on 10 October 2024 and applicants were advised that they should demonstrate a substantial amount of progress on the project to facilitate the drawdown of the grant by 27 September 2026.

Following the announcement of the provisional allocations, applicants must apply to get the grant formally approved by the Department and upload all the required documentation before payments can be processed.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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1342. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to provide a timeline for when applications will open for 2025 sports capital grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42128/25]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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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 Community Sport Facilities Fund (CSFF), benefitting over forty sports, as well as multi-sport facilities, throughout the country. This represents the largest-ever investment in sports facilities in communities across Ireland.

In line with previous rounds of the programme, a review of the current funding round will be undertaken and that review will inform the timing of the next round of the CSFF. However, I would anticipate that the next round should be announced in 2026.