There are grants for nearly all sporting organisations through the sports capital programme and the large scale sports infrastructure fund, which I welcome. However, one sector seems to fall outside any State support scheme, which is community centres. Many towns and villages across the country have community centres that were built with the support of the State over the years. However, there is no financial support available now for new projects.

I will give the Taoiseach an example of such a project. Newcastle is a community of more than 6,000 people on the west side of Galway city and under the chairmanship of Mr. Seamus Davey, a committee got together, raised over €2,000, acquired a site and secured planning permission for a much-needed centre for the area. The project is now shovel-ready and awaiting funding to commence construction. It has the unanimous support of Galway City Council. The council will commit a minimum of €900,000 towards the €3.8 million building cost of the project. That leaves a shortfall of €2.9 million. There has long been a need for such a facility in the Newcastle and neighbouring Dangan areas, especially since the only hotel in the area, a focal point for the community, closed in recent years. It was demolished to make way for student accommodation. Bear in mind that the population of the area in question is similar to that of towns such as Ballinasloe, Fermoy, Westport and Roscommon that are well serviced with such facilities.

It is also a maturing area. According to the 2016 census, almost one third of the population of Newcastle was over 60 years of age. People in the area need a facility like this within easy reach of their homes. The need for somewhere to meet up with their neighbours, enjoy social activities or take further educational courses will become more pronounced as the population matures further. All that is needed is adequate funding for this project. Those involved have ambitious plans to contribute to the health and wellness of the local community, as well as providing educational opportunities and accommodating sporting activity. They are determined to make sure that the community centre is viable in the long-term by means of measures to generate income for the service provider to cover operating costs.

I have been working with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, for the past number of months but he tells me there is no funding available for such a project. I know there are many demands on public funds, but will the Taoiseach give a commitment to set up a community centre fund that will provide financial support to the likes of the Newcastle Combined Community Association in order that it can build the much-needed community centre in question?

I thank the Deputy for raising an issue that is very close to my heart, to be honest, in terms of what I see as an historic gap in the allocation of funding to community facilities. Whereas we have historically and traditionally allocated grants and lottery funding for sports facilities, there has never really been a dedicated capital fund nationally for community centres. It is my view that there should be such a fund. Indeed, a commitment in this regard is included in the programme for Government. I would, however, like that commitment to be even more expansive than it is in the programme for Government. We need to move on this matter. Very often, as a result of the kind of gap to which I refer, the proposers or patrons of various schemes have had to take different circuitous routes to try to secure funding, be it by means of an application for a sports grant made through a sporting facility within a community centre or, for example, via the community development supports available from local authorities.

In Newcastle, Mr. Seamus Davey and the community association have been doing the groundwork. The Deputy indicated that Galway City Council has come up with approximately €900,000, which, to be fair, is a substantial amount. What I would favour is a tripartite partnership involving the Government, local authorities and communities to put together the wherewithal to enable either the enhancement of existing community facilities, extensions to such facilities or new facilities in large and developing areas and places such as Newcastle that have large populations. As the Deputy stated, the Newcastle area is home to approximately 6,000 people.

We put together the community enhancement fund, which is primarily for disadvantaged communities. Approximately €2 million was allocated in respect of this fund, which was launched in June of last year. In the second round of funding last August, an additional €5 million was allocated to the Department of Rural and Community Development under the July stimulus package. Again, following through on the programme for Government, I was anxious to give additional money to communities. Community organisations have been very effective in responding to Covid-19. The purpose of that funding was to provide grants for community centres and community facilities. It was targeted at measures that would stimulate local communities while enhancing community facilities. Some 3,000 projects were supported through the 2020 community enhancement programme, including more than 1,400 under the second round, which was targeted at community centres and facilities.

The 2021 community enhancement programme was launched in May, with funding of approximately €4.5 million. That is from the Department of Rural and Community Development and is open to all community groups. Perhaps the scale of allocation there may not be sufficient for the project the Deputy has outlined but it is something on which we can build. As we both agree, there is currently no dedicated stand-alone funding stream for capital works for community centres. The Department of Rural and Community Development accepts the principle and believes that there is benefit in the introduction of a dedicated community centre capital programme to provide large-scale capital grants for significant refurbishment, retrofitting and modernisation works across the network of community centre infrastructure. That work is under way in the context of the review of the national development plan, which is being undertaken by my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath. In addition, there is the programming being done in respect of the European Regional Development Fund and the work the Department is doing in that regard. That is something on which we will be working.

I thank the Taoiseach for his response. As we all know, however, community centres play a very important role in communities. They can incorporate day-care centres and offer places where young people and others can meet. I am sure that this does not just apply to Galway and that it is prevalent elsewhere. In the particular area to which I refer, however, there is nothing for the more than 6,000 people who live there. The only facility there was a hotel and that was knocked down in order to make way for new student accommodation erected.

The local people got together and raised more than €200,000, a huge amount of money, to get the project through the planning process to a point where it is now shovel-ready. Galway City Council is 100% on board. It has decided to give those involved with the project more than €900,000. I am sure that if we went to the council we would probably get more money from it. There is a shortfall in funding and the community cannot raise the amount involved.

I agree with the Taoiseach. There should be a group working on this matter. I ask that something be done in the short term, not the long term. Do not kick this ball down the road. This area needs a community centre, as do, I am sure, many other areas throughout the country. I welcome the grant that was introduced during the pandemic, which was used to refurbish and repair many community centres. Unfortunately, as the Taoiseach stated, there is no fund for the building of community centres. Why not make this a pilot project? Will the Taoiseach come back to the House in the short term with some sort of proposal to allow us to build this much-needed facility.

I commend the Deputy on an audacious move to secure a pilot project for Newcastle. I will talk to the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, again to see what we can do in conjunction with the local authority and to discover whether we can provide some supports for what has clearly been a project developed, from the ground up, by the community in Newcastle. The community activists and leaders there really have the vision to provide a first-class facility for their community. The Deputy put the matter very well in his presentation to the House. I will certainly pursue that with the Ministers involved to see whether, in conjunction with the local authority, we can do more to make sure that what is a shovel-ready project can actually be brought to fruition.

I thank the Taoiseach very much. Finally, we move to Deputy Nolan on behalf of the Rural Independent Group.