Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 October 2021
28. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the number of applications her Department has received for sports capital grants; the number that have been validated; if she will provide a breakdown for each sport of the applications received; when she expects to be in a position to announce the successful grants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46656/21]
View answer41. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she will provide an update on the sports capital programme. [47460/21]
View answer50. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if consideration will be given to increasing the funding under the 2021 sports capital and equipment programme in view of the large number of applications received by her Department; when the funding is likely to be announced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47850/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 28, 41 and 50 together.
The Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) 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. The 2020 round of the SCEP closed for applications on Monday 1st March 2021. By the closing date, over 3,100 applications were submitted seeking over €200m in funding. This is the highest number of applications ever received. A list of all applications received and the associated sport can be found at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/b62b8-sports-capital-and-equipment-programme-2020-applications/
The scoring system and assessment procedures were published earlier this year and all applications are being assessed accordingly. Approximately one thousand of the submitted applications were for 'equipment-only' projects. These applications were assessed first and grants with a total value of €16.6m were announced on the 6th August.
The remaining applications for capital works are now being assessed. Given the large number of applications received, this work is likely to take a number of months to complete with allocations expected to be announced before the end of this year.
A decision on the total allocation amount will not be made until all applications have been assessed. Every effort will be made to fund as many worthwhile projects as possible while providing a sufficient level of grant to ensure the projects are viable.
