Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for the kind comments, not just today but always. It is very encouraging. The velodrome is about to go to tender. It is hoped that the tender will be awarded in quarter 2 next year. It will be published on etenders.gov.ie very soon. The go-ahead was given by the Government during the summer.

I am also very glad that the project in Limerick got the go-ahead under the large scale sports infrastructure fund. It is a very important project that recognises the abundance of talent in the country in cycling and the lack of infrastructure at the moment. We are addressing that. I will be delighted to see those two projects moving forward under whoever is in charge after this.

I met the group from Kinvara Hockey Club on a number of occasions. It exemplifies what is good about communities. It is just fantastic to see another project in the Deputy's constituency - the stadium for Connacht rugby. It is not just the stadium that people come to every fortnight. It is a working centre of excellence for Connacht rugby and for other activities. I really like to see that because when we invest in sport, we want to make sure that the facilities we provide are used to the greatest possible degree. In this round of LSSIF, many sports are covered, including many multisport facilities throughout the country. That is really welcome. I look forward to seeing these projects go.

To be as clear as possible, if projects that were not funded had valid applications, they are being placed on the reserve list and they will be funded as funding becomes available or on the basis of the use it or lose it clause of these grants. In the Supplementary Estimate, we are taking from the LSSIF because drawdown has not been as anticipated. That has bedevilled the programme that was announced in 2020. Many projects that were announced in 2020 have not started. Very few are finished. That cannot continue. It is a very clear message to the projects that got funding. We are delighted but we want to see them done. If they are not done within the timeframe the Department agreed with them in their funding agreement and if they do not comply with that, the funding will move on.

However, that is not the only source of potential funding for projects on the reserve list. As sure as night follows day, these projects will be funded if they are valid and they meet the conditions. I cannot give a timeline on that but once they are valid, they meet the conditions and are deliverable, we want to see them done. We would have no credibility if we just gave a list of €600 million last week. We had to do it properly. We had to make sure that these projects that are funded will actually be delivered and actually happen.