Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would prefer to use the time provided for this issue than for some other issues. The total number of 3,210 applications exceeds the record from the previous round and the money sought shows an 80% increase over the amount applied for in the last round. The scoring system has been published. Detailed work is ongoing on equipment-only applications. We hope to announce these equipment-only grants in the early part of next month. Allocations for the rest will be announced later in the year.

The Minister and I have also confirmed a new round of the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF, will open shortly. The dates and terms and conditions will be published on the Department’s website in due course. While this programme is aimed primarily at the national governing bodies, NGBs, of sport and local authorities, it is also open to other people to apply, but applications would necessarily have to be made and prioritised by a local authority and an NGB. It is my intention to include education and training boards in that as well.

On 3 April the Minister and I published the review of the large-scale sport infrastructure fund and the new similar access requirement. The review outlines the issues faced by LSSIF projects to date and provides recommendations on a new round. The new similar access requirement necessitates that recipients of LSSIF funding must accommodate the needs of women and men on a similar basis with respect to accessing facilities that have been allocated public funding. Any organisation in receipt of LSSIF funding must have a similar access policy in place. I am very proud of this new initiative, which I announced here in the Dáil. We have now drawn up a detailed set of guidelines on that. Every single application for sports funding over €200,000 will have to publish this policy. That includes those projects that were awarded funding before Christmas as part of the top-up for the LSSIF. If they do not publish that policy, they will get zero funding.

The Government recently agreed revised capital allocations under the NDP totalling €2.25 billion out to 2026. There was an additional allocation of capital funding for our Department and that will support key projects and programmes under the NDP, such as the sports capital and equipment programme and the large-scale infrastructure fund. I am confident this revised capital allocation, which we only agreed a few weeks ago, will allow for significant funding of both the 2023 round of the sports capital and equipment programme and the forthcoming round of the large-scale sports infrastructure fund. I expect the Minister and I will confirm the overall allocation for the next round of sports capital in the near future in the context of the assessment of applications currently under way.

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