Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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The Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) is the primary vehicle for Government support for the development of sports and recreation facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment throughout the country. Over 13,000 projects have now benefited from sports capital funding since 1998 bringing the total allocations in that time to over €1.15 billion. The Programme for Government commits to continuing the SCEP and to prioritising investment in disadvantaged areas.

The latest round of the SCEP closed for applications on Friday 8 September 2023. Examination of the submitted applications demonstrates that the Programme has again generated a very large number of applications. The total number of 3,210 applications, including an application from the organisation referenced by the Deputy, exceeds the record number submitted under the last round in 2020 and the total funding applied for is €359 million, representing an 80% increase over the amount applied for in the 2020 SCEP.

The Scoring System and Assessment Manual for the 2023 round has been published along with a list of all applications received by county including the relevant sport type for each application received. The detailed assessment work has commenced and "equipment-only" applications are being assessed first. I hope to announce these "equipment only" grants next month. Work will then commence on assessing the capital applications with those allocations to be announced later.

The Government recently agreed revised capital allocations under the National Development Plan totalling €2.25 billion out to 2026. The additional allocations of capital funding to 2026 will support key projects and programmes under the NDP such as the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme.

I am confident that the revised NDP capital allocations for my Department will allow for significant funding of the 2023 round of the Sports Capital Programme. I expect that Minister Martin and myself will confirm the overall allocation for the next round of SCEP in the near future in the context of the ongoing assessment of the applications which is currently underway.