Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 July 2018
664. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the interaction his Department has had with Westmeath County Council in relation to the advancement of a project (details supplied); if he expects a positive outcome in relation to these talks and the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32245/18]
View answerThe Sports Capital Programme (SCP) as operated by my Department provides funding to voluntary and sporting organisations, and local authorities for the provision of sport and recreation facilities. The general terms and conditions of the SCP are available on my Department's website. Grants under the most recent round of the programme were announced at the end of last year and an announcement in relation to the timing of the next round of the programme will be made in the coming weeks.
In addition, the National Development Plan (NDP) contains a commitment to establish a new “Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund” (LSSIF) with at least €100 million available over the coming years. It is intended that the Fund will be for larger projects where the proposed Government contribution exceeds the amount currently available for individual projects under the SCP. At this stage, it is envisaged that the fund will be initially focused on the National Governing Bodies of Sport and Local Authorities and all projects will need to be fully compliant with the Public Spending Code and EU State Aid regulations. My officials hope to have the draft terms and conditions of the new scheme finalised shortly and an announcement in relation to when applications will be accepted will be made once this work is complete.
I can confirm that Westmeath County Council has made general enquiries to my Department in relation to the project referred to by the Deputy including possible funding sources for the proposed work. When the new programmes are open for applications, it will obviously be open to the Council to apply for funding once the general terms and conditions of the schemes are met.
