Sorca Clarke
Question:573. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the status of an application pertaining to the development of a skate park in Longford [40890/22]
View answerTuesday, 26 July 2022
Questions (573)
Written answers
Two schemes within my Department's remit provide capital grant assistance for the development and improvement of sports facilities.
The 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 €1.15 billion. The Programme for Government commits to continuing the SCEP and to prioritising the 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 €6.1 million were announced on Tuesday 31 May.
The total allocation of €166.6 million for sports projects under the 2020 round represented the highest level of allocation ever made under the SCEP with a significant number of local authority-led projects benefiting. Details of all allocations including those to local authorities can be found at www.gov.ie/en/collection/471ed5-sports-capital-allocations/.
The priority in the short term is to advance the 2,895 successful applications under the 2020 round to "formal approval" and grant drawdown stage which requires detailed engagement with all grantees. Now that the appeal process is complete, my Department will also undertake a full review of all aspects of the 2020 round of the SCEP and any recommendations arising will be reflected in the terms and conditions of the next round. The precise timing of this next round of the Programme will be announced once this review is complete.
Funding is also provided by my Department for sports facilities under the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF), designed for projects where the grant sought is greater than the maximum available under the SCEP. The LSSIF was launched in 2018 and the first allocations under the LSSIF were announced in January 2020. Thus far, approximately €86.4 million has been awarded to 33 different proposals. The projects that received provisional allocations and the amounts provisionally awarded to them are published on the Department's website.
While the priority in the short term is to advance all of the projects that were allocated funding, as it is now over two years since the first allocations were made, and in view of the issues faced by grantees as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was considered timely to review progress on all projects allocated grants. My Department has now met with all successful grantees and work is at an advanced stage in drafting the review. Once the review is complete the scope for awarding any additional grants, adjusting the level of existing grants and the timing of any new call for proposals will be considered.
Any future application for funding for a skate park in Longford under either the SCEP or LSSIF will be considered on its own merits in line with the relevant assessment criteria.