Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 November 2021
247. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the position regarding the processing of applications for the sports capital and equipment programme; if an announcement will be made in the coming weeks; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55119/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra248. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the status of the processing of applications to the sports capital and equipment programme; if the processing of applications remains likely to be concluded before the end of 2021; if more details can be provided on the significant additional grants allocated to the sports capital and equipment programme as mentioned in Budget 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55196/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 248 and 247 together.
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 billion.
On 30 November 2020, Minister Martin and I announced that a new 2020 round of the Programme was opening with at least €40 million available to allocate. The original closing date for applications was 12 February 2021 but in view of difficulties some applicants were encountering as a result of Covid restrictions, this deadline was extended until 1 March 2021. By this closing date, 3,106 applications had been submitted seeking over €200m in funding. This is the highest number of applications ever received.
The scoring system and assessment procedures were finalised and published earlier this year and all applications are being assessed in accordance with these procedures.
Approximately one thousand of the submitted applications were for 'equipment-only' projects. These applications were assessed first and grants with a total value of €16.6m were announced on 6 August 2021. The letter of provisional allocation encouraged all grantees to draw down this funding before year-end if possible and in recent weeks my Department has been prioritising the payments of all existing grants. Ensuring that as many older grants as possible are paid before year-end will maximise the funding available to allocate for the 2020 capital SCEP applications.
In relation to these 2020 capital SCEP applications, assessment work is continuing and every effort is being made to have it complete as quickly as possible. Given the record number of applications received however, it is likely to take a further number of weeks to have these assessments complete.
In relation to the funding available to allocate, as already stated, the payment of as many older grants as possible before the end of this year will help increase the potential allocation amount for these remaining capital applications. I am pleased that following completion of the 2022 budget discussions, at least €34.535m has been provided for the SCEP in 2022. This represents an increase of €6.6m on the 2021 allocation. This will cover all existing allocations under older rounds of the Programme plus significant new allocations for the 2020 Capital applications. Every effort will be made to fund as many worthwhile projects as possible while providing a sufficient level of grant to ensure the projects are viable.
