Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
590. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if a club (details supplied) will be allowed to appeal it’s allocation of sports capital funding on the basis that it should have been assessed as a regional application rather than as a club. [19982/22]
View answerAs per the published 2020 Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) Guide to Making an Application, if an organisation is applying for a regional facility, the applicant must include a letter from its national governing body of sport confirming the regional status of the project. No such letter was included in the application from the club in question. As detailed in the Guide, Regional or National projects (maximum grant of €300,000) include:
- national centres of excellence for one or more sport (e.g. national rowing centre, national stadium for boxing)
- 6-8 lane synthetic running tracks,
- county and/or regional centres of excellence
- Local Authority projects seeking between €150,000 and €300,000
- Sports facilities at 3rd Level Colleges (must be made jointly with a local club or sports group) and
- Applications from NGBs.
In relation to the 2020 SCEP, the club referenced by the Deputy submitted an application for an all-weather pitch, and sought €150k in funds. In line with the approved allocation methodology and based on the score obtained at assessment stage, the club has been awarded a provisional grant allocation of €96,600. It should be noted that the club has received a number of allocations previously under the SCEP none of which were classified as regional allocations.
In relation to the appeals system, appeals were only accepted from applicants who were deemed invalid or who were awarded less than 50% of the amount sought at application stage. The deadline for submission of appeals was Monday 4 April.
