Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 July 2022
337. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the reason that a club (details supplied) in County Tipperary has not yet received any correspondence or decision concerning its appeal to the sports capital grant scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39127/22]
View answerThe Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) 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. Over 13,000 projects have now benefited from sports capital funding since 1998, bringing the total allocations in that time to over €1.11 billion. The Programme for Government commits to continuing the SCEP and to prioritising investment in disadvantaged areas.
The 2020 round of the SCEP closed for applications on Monday 1 March 2021 and by the deadline a record 3,106 applications were submitted.
Approximately one thousand of the submitted applications were for 'equipment-only' projects. These applications were assessed first and grants with a total value of €16.6 million were announced on 6 August, 2021.
The remaining capital applications were then assessed and 1,865 individual grant offers with a total value of over €143.8 million were announced on Friday 11 February 2022.
Unsuccessful applicants were able to appeal the Department's decision. The deadline for submission of capital appeals was Monday 4 April and 146 appeals were received. The assessment of all appeals is complete and the consequent allocations amounting to €6.14 million were announced on Tuesday 31 May.
Of the appeals submitted, a small proportion were unsuccessful, including the organisation referenced by the Deputy. The club in question has already been advised of this and the relevant notification issued on the 7th June to the registered contact address for the club. If any further clarification in relation to the appeal is required, the club should contact the Sports Capital Division of my Department who will be pleased to assist.
