224. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if his attention has been drawn to a school and sports club in West Cork (details supplied) who are unable to progress with their Community Sport Facilities Fund application due to the unwillingness of the dioceses to sign the necessary paperwork and the assistance that can be given the school and sports club in moving forward. [66108/26]

225. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the action that has been undertaken to deal with the issue of diocesan trusts’ unwillingness to sign the necessary paperwork becoming a barrier to school-sports-club applications, as acknowledged in committee in 2023. [66107/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 224 and 225 together.

The provision of sports facilities in school settings is primarily the responsibility of the Minister for Education and Youth and the school governing authorities.

My Department's Community Sport Facilities Fund (CSFF) is the primary means of providing Government funding to sport and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. A key objective of the CSFF is to maximise participation in sport and physical recreation across the entire community. Third level colleges, Education and Training Boards (ETBs) and schools may only apply for funding jointly with sports clubs or organisations.

Joint applications require formal facility-sharing arrangements, ensuring the new or refurbished facilities are used by the relevant sports club and wider community throughout the year, especially outside of school hours. This aligns with the Fund's objective of increasing overall participation in sport and physical activity.

Over €16.5 million was allocated to 111 school applications with a sports club as joint applicant under the 2023 CSFF round.

My Department is currently preparing for the next round of the CSFF, which I expect to open soon. I have also recently met with officials from the Department of Education and Youth to discuss how the benefits for sporting organisations and schools from working together on CSFF applications can be optimised.

New guidelines will be published in advance of the opening of the next round which will include eligibility, likely assessment criteria and maximum grant amounts for the next round. My aim is to have as many eligible sporting bodies as possible applying, by simplifying the application process and guide, and carrying out a wide-reaching communications campaign.

I anticipate that a revised and simplified application and assessment process will make it easier and quicker for applicants including schools and sporting organisations to navigate the system at all stages and allow for quicker turn-around time. While I encourage schools and sporting organisations to apply jointly under the next round of the CSFF, neither I nor my Department has any role in securing agreement between such parties to submit a joint application.