Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2023
89. Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if, in light of recent statements by the Football Association of Ireland regarding the lack of funding for League of Ireland clubs, she will provide the total amount of funding allocated to soccer clubs and soccer organisations in County Louth through the sports capital funding programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34692/23]
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. The first sports capital grants were provided in the early 1970s and responsibility for such grants has rested in various Government Departments in the interim period. 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.
A list of all county allocations under SCEP rounds since 2000 is published on my Department's website at: - www.gov.ie/en/collection/471ed5-sports-capital-allocations/ . In addition, following the most recent rounds of the Programme, a Review has been published. These Reviews include, inter alia, statistical information on the breakdown of allocations. The 2020 Review was published in May and can be found at the following link:-
www.gov.ie/en/publication/84105-review-of-sports-capital-and-equipment-programme-2020/ .
Following completion of the appeal process, my Department commenced a full review of all aspects of the 2020 round of the SCEP. This Review has now been published and is available on the Department’s website. Once the Review was finalised, I asked my officials to draft the "Guide to Making an Application" for the 2023 round to reflect the recommendations in the Review. This work is now complete and yesterday (12 July) Minister Martin and I published the new "Guide to Making an Application" for the 2023 round. We also announced that the Programme itself will be open for applications from 17 July until 8 September and I look forward to seeing a high level of applications for worthwhile sports projects from right across the country.
