Robert Troy
Question:187. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media when a decision will be made on sports capital appeals. [35949/20]
View answerThursday, 12 November 2020
Questions (187)
Written answers
The Sports Capital Programme (SCP) 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. The most recent (2018) round of the SCP attracted a record 2,337 applications. Allocations were announced in January, May and November of last year with a total of over €56 million awarded to 1,648 different projects. All unsuccessful applicants were given the opportunity to appeal the Department’s decision. In relation to the capital grants announced in November, a total of 122 appeals were submitted by the December deadline. The review of these appeals was completed in April with 6 new allocations approved. The appeals’ process has now closed for the 2018 SCP and no further appeals are being accepted. An announcement in relation to the timing of the next round of the SCP will be made in the coming weeks.
My Department also administers the 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 SCP. The first grants under the new scheme were announced in January of this year. 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 LSSIF appeals will be made shortly.