Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 October 2023
311. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the amount of funding allocated per year through the Sport Capital Fund, over the past ten years; the amount allocated this year; the value and number of applications, per county this year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46622/23]
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. 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 allocations made under the SCP/SCEP 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. A Review of the last round, 2020, can be found at the following link: -
www.gov.ie/en/publication/84105-review-of-sports-capital-and-equipment-programme-2020/ .
The final grants under the 2020 round were announced on Tuesday 31 May 2022 and the total allocation of €166.6 million for the 2020 round represents the highest level of allocation ever made under the SCEP.
With regard to future allocations, the latest round of the SCEP (2023) closed for applications on Friday 8 September. A preliminary examination of the submitted applications is now underway but it is clear that the Programme has again generated a very large number of applications and it is likely that the total number will exceed the previous record 3,106 applications submitted under the last (2020) round.
Work is now underway on finalising the "Scoring Assessment and Assessment Manual" for the 2023 round and I hope to have this published in the coming weeks. Simultaneously, I also plan to publish the full list of all applications received by county including the relevant sport type for each application received. Once these documents are published, the detailed assessment work can commence. In this regard, it is planned to assess the "equipment-only" applications first with a view to announcing these grants in the coming months. Work will then commence on the assessment of the capital applications with the allocations likely to be announced later in 2024.
