Sports Funding

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2020

Tuesday, 14 July 2020

Questions (172)

Joe Carey

Question:

172. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will give final approval to a grant for a project (details supplied) under the large-scale sporting infrastructure scheme in view of the recommendation by the former Minister of State that the project would be funded following the results of the appeals process; if the matter will be given urgent priority in view of the amount of time that the applicant has waited since the application was made and the merits of the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14830/20]

Written answers

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport

The National Sports Policy was published in 2018 and provided for a new Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). The aim of the fund is to provide Exchequer support for larger sports capital projects where the Exchequer investment is greater than the maximum amount available under the Sports Capital Programme. The first grants under the new scheme were announced in January of this year.

An application was submitted by Clare County Council in respect of the project referred to by the Deputy. As the total funding applied for under the scheme significantly exceeded the funding available, it was not possible to provide funding to all projects. The application in question did not score sufficiently highly to warrant a provisional allocation in the grant announcements made in January.

All unsuccessful applicants were given the opportunity to appeal the Department’s decision if it was felt than an error was made in the assessment process. All appeals have now been assessed by officials who were not involved in the initial assessment process and a final decision on the appeals will be made shortly.

Question No. 173 answered with Question No. 166.