Sports capital allocations
Deputy Heydon asked when sports clubs would learn the outcome of their sports capital grant applications. The Minister of State said a record number applied, extra funding had been found, and allocations would be announced in the coming weeks, hopefully within a fortnight.
Many sports clubs in Kildare and around the country applied for funding under the sports capital programme earlier this year. They are trying to plan for the next phases of their developments, upgrades and expansions. Will the Taoiseach or the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport tell the House when we can expect the final decision to be made and when the clubs can expect to be informed of same?
Comment on this
I thank Deputy Heydon for his question. We had an unprecedented number of applications to the sports capital programme for 2017. A total of 2,320 clubs nationwide applied and the value of their applications was €155 million. Initially there was a budget of €30 million. We were able to increase that to €60 million, €56 million of which will go to local sports capital applications. We expect to be able to announce the allocations in the coming weeks, it is hoped within the next fortnight. The announcement will include a per capita allocation for each county, so Kildare will be very well looked after.