Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2020
227. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if final approval will be given to a grant for a stadium (details supplied) under the large scale sporting infrastructure scheme; if the matter will be given urgent priority in view of the amount of time that the applicant has waited since the application was made and the merits of the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15371/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Sports Policy was published in 2018 and provided for a new Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). The aim of the fund is to provide Exchequer support for larger sports capital projects where the Exchequer investment is greater than the maximum amount available under the Sports Capital Programme.
The first call for applications under the LSSIF was confined to National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) and Local Authorities. The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) submitted an application for funding the stadium development project referred to by the Deputy. In January of this year, provisional allocations totalling €77.4m for 25 projects under Stream 2 (construction) of the LSSIF were announced. In view of the limited funding available, the project referred to by the Deputy did not score sufficiently highly to warrant a provisional allocation in this first set of allocations.
The evaluation procedures and guidelines for the LSSIF provide that once provisional allocations are announced, the projects being suggested for funding undergo a further process of due diligence. This process includes a further review of projects including economic appraisals and feasibility studies as appropriate to comply with the Public Spending Code and EU State Aid rules.
In view of the fact that the proposed development had received previous government support, it was agreed that the application in question should also be subject to the due diligence process and the question of funding could then be further considered. This process has been advancing in consultation with the FAI. On 7th May, the Department of Transport , Tourism and Sport wrote to the FAI to confirm that it was satisfied that the multi-criteria analysis was compliant with the Public Spending Code.
The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport subsequently wrote to the FAI on 15th June 2020 seeking further information in respect of the financial projections for the project. A response was received from the FAI on the 1st July and is currently being examined. A decision on any possible funding for the project is expected after this material has been fully reviewed.
