Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 May 2023
15. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media when the next round of the large-scale sport infrastructure fund (LSSIF) will open for new applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23564/23]
View answer16. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the amount allocated under the 2018 Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF); if she can clarify how much has been drawn down; how the review of the LSSIF is progressing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23288/23]
View answer55. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media when the large scale sports capital applications will open for clubs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23461/23]
View answer70. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to provide details on when she expects the large scale sport infrastructure fund (LSSIF) to open for project applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23387/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 15, 16, 55 and 70 together.
The National Sports Policy, which was published in 2018, provided for the establishment of a Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). The first call for proposals under the LSSIF closed in 2019 with applications confined to local authorities and National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of Sport. All applications were assessed in accordance with the published Evaluation Procedures and Guidelines and the first allocations were announced in January 2020. Thus far, approximately €86.4 million has been awarded to 33 different proposals. Details of all payments under the LSSIF for 2021 and 2022 are available on my Department's website.
The first LSSIF allocations were announced just prior to the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic obviously gave rise to significant financial challenges for all grantees with many of them having to reprioritise their own expenditure plans due to reductions in their income streams. In more recent times, the high level of construction inflation has also presented considerable challenges for grantees.
In view of these issues, it was considered timely to review progress on all projects allocated grants and meetings with all grantees have taken place. It is encouraging that, based on these discussions with grantees, it is estimated that more than half of the 33 projects should be in a position to draw down funding this year. While this progress is very welcome, these discussions also confirm that some projects in receipt of LSSIF grants may not proceed in the short to medium term.
In view of this, Minister Martin and I are currently considering whether additional resources could be provided to projects in need of further assistance and whether a new round of the LSSIF could be opened in due course. There is ongoing engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in this regard. Once these discussions are concluded, I will provide an update in respect of any new round of the LSSIF.
