Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 June 2021
454. Deputy Chris Andrews asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the number of clubs that availed of the Covid-19 small club grant; the amount of funds drawn down as a part of this grant programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30565/21]
View answerA total Covid-19 funding package of €88.5 million was provided last year to support the sport sector. This significant investment benefited all levels of the sport sector, including thousands of grassroots clubs across the country, and provided some certainty for sporting organisations in their planning for 2021.
The funding package included support for the three main field sports organisations (the FAI, GAA and IRFU), a Resilience Fund to support the National Governing Bodies of Sport, a Sports Club Resilience Fund to support clubs, and a Sports Restart and Renewal Fund.
In addition to funding of almost €17m allocated to National Governing Bodies of Sport under the Sports Club Resilience Fund to enable them to support their affiliated clubs, funding of €1.9 million was provided to 1,637 clubs throughout the country as part of small grant schemes operated by Local Sports Partnerships. This small grants scheme fund was developed to support clubs which may not have the finances to implement Covid-19 related hygiene and social distancing protocols.
