Written Answers Nos. 1-20
13. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media how nature preservation and biodiversity initiates are being developed, advanced and supported in sports clubs nationwide; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23341/23]
View answer22. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media how nature preservation and biodiversity initiates are being developed, advanced and supported in sports clubs nationwide; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23738/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 22 together.
Nature preservation and biodiversity initiatives go hand in hand with the wider climate change agenda and the long term sustainability of the sports sector is a key focus for me and my Department.
In its new Statement of Strategy for 2023-2027, which is expected to be approved shortly, Sport Ireland has identified sustainability as a key area of focus over the coming years. One of its key objectives will be to improve its own sustainability impact and that of the wider sport sector. Sport Ireland is committed to working with the sector to help fully consider the social and sustainability responsibilities of sport and proactively promote and respond to green agenda issues in particular climate change, carbon usage and biodiversity.
With regard to capital support, 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 investment in disadvantaged areas.
The final set of allocations under the latest round of the SCEP were announced at the end of May last year and the total allocation of €166.6 million for the 2020 round represents the highest level of allocation ever made under the SCEP.
In terms of eligible projects, the Programme already covers modifications to sports facilities to reduce energy consumption and restricts funding for floodlighting to LED floodlights.
A full review of the 2020 Round of the SCEP was published earlier this week and contains a specific section on Climate Action. Specifically, the Review suggests that future guides to making an application should contain links to other supports which are available for biodiversity measures and also that consideration be given to the awarding of additional marks to applications which already have biodiversity measures in place and that provide details of same as part of the application form.
My officials are now working on drafting the new “Guide to Making an Application” for the next round of the SCEP and I am hopeful that the next round will open for applications shortly.
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.
18. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she has read the recently published report on the section 481 film tax credit produced by the Budgetary Oversight Committee, particularly its recommendations that vindication of the employment rights of film crew under fixed term workers legislation, and the I.P rights of performers under the copyright directive, be fully vindicated by film producers as a condition of receiving the credit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23579/23]
View answerI welcome the Budgetary Oversight Committee's Report and I would like to thank you Deputy and the other members of the Committee on the work done.
Recommendation number 14 is that the Committee recommends that both my Department and the Dept. of Finance convene a stakeholder forum to discuss how to maximise the benefits of the Section 481 credit for all concerned stakeholders and to facilitate best practice in employment rights, industrial relations, collective bargaining, address Copyright and Intellectual Property issues and any other relevant issues.
That specific recommendation is addressed to my Department and the Department of Finance and in this regard, my officials will be contacting the Department of Finance about how to move forward with the recommendation.
The Section 481 tax relief is a vital part of the financial infrastructure of the Irish audiovisual industry. The objectives of the relief are to act as a stimulus to the Irish audiovisual industry in the State, creating quality employment opportunities, upskilling workers across the industry, supporting the production of new audiovisual programming across areas of Irish culture and language, including Irish storytelling, giving full breadth to our heritage, experience, diversity and history, both fictional and factual and providing opportunities to export Irish culture on screen.
The recommendations include a range of issues including policy matters for my Cabinet colleagues. The Minister for Finance has responsibility for the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (as amended) the legislation governing Section 481. In particular, the Committee recommended the removing or raising the cap on Section 481 and retaining the regional uplift and I will be engaging with Minister McGrath on these matters in advance of the Budget. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has responsibility for Copyright matters, the EU Copyright Directive and matters relating to the Workplace Relations Commission.
I also note that the Committee itself is tasked with responsibility for some of the recommendations relating to the European Commission.
On the issue of Copyright, independently and in the interim since the Committee finished its engagement with witnesses, Screen Ireland has retained an independent facilitator to meet with key stakeholders to understand and discuss issues that have arisen as a result of and since the transposition into Irish law of the Copyright Directive. Individual stakeholder meetings have been held over the past nine weeks and the next phase of the process will be to engage in group discussions.
20. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the practical steps available to ensure that online GAA sporting content is not behind a paywall; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23458/23]
View answerThe designation of events as free to air is a statutory process which provides the opportunity to designate certain events that have a special resonance or a distinct cultural importance for the country. The criteria which must be met in order to designate an event are set out in the Broadcasting Act 2009 and are informed by Ireland’s obligations under EU Law.
An initial round of consultation, designed to allow the public put forward events to be added to or removed from the existing list, has been completed and will inform the process going forward. Due to the impacts of Covid on sports events and revenues, the process was halted to allow sporting bodies to bring back a full schedule of events and recover financially. I now intend to consult with Cabinet colleagues before publishing the list of proposed events and commencing the next consultation in the coming weeks. This will allow the public, sports bodies and broadcasters a further opportunity to make known their views.
My Department will also commission an independent report on the impacts of designation, and the extent to which the proposed events meet the criteria set down in the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive. Following this assessment, my officials will engage with the European Commission to seek approval for any additional events. Subsequently, a draft Order will be prepared and laid before each House of the Oireachtas.
In relation to GAA events, while the senior football and hurling championships have a special resonance with a large proportion of the population, this statutory process and the associated criteria set out in the European Directive are not intended to provide for designating all events within any particular sport. Rather it is intended to ensure that significant events which are of special cultural importance to the population in general, including when our national teams are playing, are not broadcast behind a paywall.
Other than those events which are designated, the broadcasting and commercial rights of individual sports are a matter for the relevant national governing body. Offering the rights to broadcast events is an important source of revenue for many sports bodies, such as the GAA. A challenge for all sports bodies is how to balance revenue generation with facilitating access to events by as wide an audience as possible. The GAA have stated that they will review this issue at the end of the season and I welcome this commitment.
