Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 July 2021
212. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she will clarify the requirement for a valid licence agreement as per Criteria 6: Sharing of Facilities with Community and Clubs as part of the application process for the Large Scale Sports and Infrastructure Fund 2019 (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36325/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Sports Policy published in 2018 provided for the establishment of a Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) and the National Development Plan provided a capital allocation of at least €100m over the period to 2027 for the Fund. The first allocations were announced in January 2020 and to date, approximately €86.4m has been awarded to 33 different proposals.
Applications were invited under two streams. Stream 1 concerned assistance in the development of detailed plans for projects while Stream 2 provides assistance for the actual construction costs.
One of the goals of the LSSIF is to maximise widespread community use of the projects being funded. It should be noted that the provision of license agreements was not mandatory for any application and the sharing of facilities was only one of the criteria used to assess applications. Of the 33 projects awarded provisional funding, 8 had a swimming pool element and one of these pools is located in Wicklow. Full details of the scoring system is available on the Department's website. It was to be expected that license agreements were more likely for Stream 2 applications as they were at a more advanced stage of planning. It should be noted however, that the two streams were assessed independently with separate allocations made under each stream. This meant that Stream 1 applications were competing with other such applications when the overall funding was being allocated.
While it is not proposed to open the LSSIF for new applications at present, my Department is currently undertaking a Review of the LSSIF. This Review is considering progress on all existing grants and whether any additional grants should be awarded including to previously unsuccessful applications. The timing of any new call for proposals is also being considered along with any possible changes to the assessment methodology. Any new allocations or a new call for proposals, will be dependent on receiving additional funding for the LSSIF following the completion of the review of the National Development Plan. It is expected that my Department’s Review of the LSSIF will be complete in the coming months.
