Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 April 2024
56. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if the NDP has sufficiently taken into account and is adequately resourced to meet the growing demand for sports facilities, particularly with the very considerable and welcome growth of women’s sports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16222/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraCapital funding for sport is provided though the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) and the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF).
The Government recently agreed revised capital allocations under the National Development Plan totalling €2.25 billion out to 2026. The additional allocations of capital funding to 2026 will support key projects and programmes under the NDP such as the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme and the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund.
I am confident that the revised NDP capital allocations for my Department will allow for significant funding of both SCEP and LSSIF. I expect that Minister Martin and myself will confirm the overall allocation for the next round of SCEP in the near future in the context of the ongoing assessment of the applications which is currently underway. Those assessments include marks to be awarded where an application clearly demonstrates how the proposal will specifically improve female participation.
In relation to LSSIF, Minister Martin and I have confirmed that a new round of the fund will open for applications in the first half of 2024, which I now hope will take place next month. with the dates, terms and conditions to be published on the Department’s website.
On 3 April this year, Minister Martin and I published the ‘Review of the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF)’ and the new ‘Similar Access Requirement’. The Similar Access Requirement requires that recipients of LSSIF funding must accommodate the needs of women and men, on a similar basis, with respect to accessing the facilities that have been allocated public funding. Any organisation that is in receipt of LSSIF funding must have a similar access policy in place.
