Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 October 2021
188. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the status of the review which is being conducted regarding the 2020 allocation of the large-scale sport infrastructure fund grant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51731/21]
View answer189. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if there is surplus grant funding available following a review of grant applications under the 2020 large-scale sports infrastructure fund; if this funding could be allocated to some of the applicants who applied for the scheme that were unsuccessful; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51732/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 188 and 189 together.
The Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) was launched in 2018 to provide Exchequer support for larger sports facility projects, including swimming pools, with at least €100m being made available over the period to 2027.
The first allocations under the LSSIF were announced in January 2020 and, thus far, approximately €86.4m has been awarded to 33 different proposals. The total funding applied for under the scheme significantly exceeded the amount available to allocate and it was not possible to allocate grants to many worthy projects.
While the priority in the short term is to advance all of the successful projects, as it is now over 18 months since the first allocations were made, and in view of the issues faced by grantees as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is timely to review progress on all projects allocated grants. My Department is currently meeting with all grantees in this regard.
Once that review is complete the scope for awarding new grants to projects which missed out under the first set of allocations and the timing of any new call for proposals will be considered. It is expected that the review will be completed in the coming weeks.
