Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2020
216. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the criteria used to determine if a club is deemed to be in an area of disadvantage for the purposes of funding; if and the way in which this can be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15226/20]
View answerThe Sports Capital Programme (SCP) is the primary vehicle for Government support for the development of sports and physical recreation facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment throughout the country.
In relation to how applications are assessed, under the most recent rounds of the Programme the full scoring system and assessment manual was published in advance of the assessment of applications commencing. The assessment manual for the latest round (2018) of the Programme is available at the following link:- https://assets.gov.ie/20010/cbff2e0701b04f38ab4bec9922c729a0.pdf.
With regard to the awarding of marks for the level of disadvantage, under the most recent rounds of the SCP, the relevant marks were determined based on the Pobal Deprivation Index for the location provided by the applicant and the scoring was weighted to favour applications from more disadvantaged areas.
Following the finalisation of all grants under the 2018 round of the SCP, a full Review was undertaken. Amongst the areas covered in the Review is how applications were assessed in terms of level of disadvantage.This Review is expected to be finalised shortly and the terms and conditions of the next round of the SCP will be cognisant of any recommendations contained therein.
