Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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Ireland is increasingly difficult for young people to grow up in. Sporting activities lead to mounting pressures for both providers and participants as the cost of living and lack of facilities escalate. This is creating increased inequalities in our society and nowhere is it clearer than in Dublin's inner city. The group Sporting Liberties has launched a very strong campaign highlighting the lack of facilities for children in the inner city. Recent reports have shown that thousands of children across the city do not have access to a green area to play on. It is appalling that, in 2024, so many children in our capital city do not have access to the most basic facilities. This is having a damaging impact on society. It is well documented that participation in sport is a key element in building a healthier population and a stronger sense of community. Participation in sport from a young age has been shown to contribute to increasing social cohesion and it leads to greater savings on healthcare the long run.

While there has been a lot of media coverage around the recent sports capital announcements, the figures are clear.

From the grass roots up, sport has been utterly underfunded for decades. Year after year, Eurostat figures have shown that we have one of the worst ratios of GDP devoted to sport and recreation. We cannot plaster over the cracks and expect everything to be fine. We need to see a clear sports facility strategy put in place to identify communities like those in the inner city that are being left behind. We need to see a vision and creativity in the delivery of sports facilities. When I look around Dublin city, the utter lack of sports facilities is a disgrace. You do not need to look any further than Kevin Street. For such a large community, there is one tiny astro pitch near Digges Lane. It is like a stamp but is expected to cater for all the young families living in the area. The former DIT site in Kevin Street had huge potential for community development, affordable housing and leisure facilities but was sold off by the Government to private developers. A large site like that could have delivered modern multi-purpose sports facilities along with public housing for the benefit of the entire community and it would have been good for the city. Instead the Government parties sold it off and now residents are facing that particular development going 12 or 13 storeys high with nothing to benefit the local community. On the other side, the Iveagh Trust is without facilities. Again, it has a postage stamp-sized playing facility to use. The former DIT site on Aungier Street at the other side of this community on Bishop Street is being transferred to private developers who will not develop it for the local community. Again, this is another missed opportunity for the residents of the inner city. People seem to think that Dublin is just for visiting and going to bars. It is a living thriving community. There are so many families living in the inner city and they have been neglected for years. This Government is selling off the assets that could make the city better for families and encourage families to come in but instead it is transferring facilities like the DIT site in Aungier Street and selling the DIT site in Kevin Street and the community is left with nothing. It is forcing families out instead of encouraging them to come in. I ask that we invest in sports facilities in the inner city.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media operates two capital funding programmes for sport, namely the sports capital and equipment programme, SCEP, which is now renamed the community sport facility fund, and the large scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. At the outset, I should note that the provision of recreational and sporting infrastructure in Dublin city is primarily a matter for Dublin City Council through its sports and play policies.

Earlier this year, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, announced funding of up to €120 million under the new 2024 round of the LSSIF, which closed for applications on 1 July 2024. On 25 September, the Minister and the Minister of State announced €230 million in grants for sports clubs and facilities under phase two of the community sport facility fund. Over a quarter of a billion euro has been allocated to community sports clubs and facilities in 2024 taking account of the earlier equipment-only allocation of €26 million with a total investment of €256 million. This will facilitate the largest-ever investment in sports facilities in communities across Ireland, including Dublin inner city.

Since 1998, over 13,000 projects have benefited from sports capital funding bringing the total allocations in that time to over €1.15 billion. We all agree that the SCEP has transformed the sporting landscape with improved sports facilities in every town and village in the country. The programme for Government commits to continuing the SCEP and to targeting the investment in disadvantaged areas. As well as being open to individual sports clubs, applications are also accepted from local authorities. Dublin City Council has received significant grant funding for sports facilities projects, including sports pitches used by football clubs. Since 2000, a total of €35 million has been allocated to Dublin City Council under the SCEP.

The 2023 round of the SCEP closed for applications on 8 September 2023. A record number of 3,210 applications was received under the 2023 round, including ten applications from Dublin City Council. Any application for funding will be considered on its merits based on the agreed scoring system. The schemes favour projects that will increase participation and promote sharing of facilities among a number of sports and-or clubs. Priority is always given to applications from disadvantaged areas.

I emphasise that the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media’s sports capital programmes are demand-driven and do not support land or property acquisition. In relation to land or property acquisition, I would consider that question more appropriately addressed to the relevant local authority, including in relation to overall local planning and development policies as agreed by the local elected representatives - in this case, Dublin City Council.

As a Government, we are determined to increase the level of participation in sport and physical activity across the whole population in line with our national sports policy 2018 to 2027. In pursuit of that objective, the Government is committed to a "sport for all" approach aimed at ensuring that all persons have the opportunity to partake equally in sport and physical activity regardless of gender, age, socioeconomic status, disability, or membership of minority groups such as the LGBTI+ community, the Traveller community or other ethnic minorities.

The Dormant Accounts Fund sports programme is the primary funding stream deployed exclusively to promote increased sports participation amongst disadvantaged communities and people with a disability. This programme provides financial supports to a wide range of locally inspired community projects undertaken by local sports clubs, associations and other interested parties generally under the active guidance of the 29 local sports partnerships around the country.

Last October, a new European Social Fund Plus, ESF+, programme was launched with Sport Ireland entitled, Sport 4 Empowerment. This new programme aims to develop innovative social inclusion programmes through the use of sport and physical activity with a specific focus on individuals at risk of social exclusion and poverty.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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The announcement of funding and grants is all well and good but how much of it is making its way down to the local community? You do not have to go too far from here to see. Someone living in Pearse House or Markievicz House has almost no good-quality sports or leisure facilities, so the Minister of State can spin and make announcements but families in Pearse House, Markievicz House and Leo Fitzgerald House do not have the facilities they deserve and should have. While we are all talking about announcements and figures, it does not reach ordinary working families in the inner city to make the inner city a more welcoming and friendly place in which to bring up your family. We have seen announcement after announcement of increased funding to the LSSIF but according to a reply to a parliamentary question on the fund, out of the €120 million in allocations announced over the years, barely €10 million has been drawn down so something is not working.

While it is great to see such an increase in funding for the community sport facility fund, by the look of it, it is like "The Late Late Show" - one for everybody in the audience but not delivering any infrastructure, particularly for inner-city communities. In some cases, we see sports clubs being awarded half of what they applied for, which as one applicant said, means that they will not be able to deliver the project. They feel lost because they cannot the thousands of euro required to finish the project. While recent changes around donations to sports clubs will benefit many clubs across the city, it needs to be recognised that these changes will primarily benefit sports clubs in more affluent areas. What is the Government going to do to counter this initiative around tax incentives for sports clubs in more affluent areas? What is it going to do to ensure that the gap in respect of inner-city communities is not increased?

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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They are very valid points. Critically, this lies with Dublin City Council and its elected members. They develop very proactive sports and play policies. One day I toured some of the pocket parks and play facilities with Dublin City Council which is doing really innovative work. It is increasingly trying to fit them in smaller sites. Weaver Park is a great example. Those small facilities can make a big difference to small localised communities in inner-city Dublin.

Regarding the point on the LSSIF and the two grant schemes, they are under constant review. There has been feedback from some community groups that the grants do not go far enough.

However, from the experience we have throughout the country, they are most welcome and give that uplift to an awful lot of sporting clubs and communities. It is critically important, when planning in the inner city, that a local authority can optimise spaces where it can make allocation for a sports facility. I take on board the point the Deputy made regarding the DIT site or other sites across inner-city Dublin. These are prime sites for development but we have to be mindful that families and communities live in these parts of the city as well. It is very important that the local authority strikes a right balance. The grant schemes are there if the projects can be identified by the local authority and by local communities.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank everyone who tabled Topical Issue Matters for today and this week and the Minister of State for being here to deal comprehensively with them.