Over a quarter of a billion euro was allocated to 3,048 community sports clubs and facilities in 2024 from the 2023 round of the community sport facilities fund, CSFF, representing the largest-ever investment in sports facilities in communities across the country.
The Deputy’s question referred to the Oscar Traynor centre, where €509,182 was allocated to the centre under the CSFF in the period in question. In the 2020 CSFF round, we allocated €23,563 for sporting equipment, including non-personal portable goalposts. My Department is awaiting further information from the organisation before payment can be made. Under the 2023 CSFF round, €485,619 was allocated towards an artificial playing surface, floodlight upgrading, natural playing surface works and ball stop netting. Formal approval to commence these works was granted in December 2025 but no payment requests have been received yet.
All CSFF grantees must sign a declaration that from the date of the grant, they will not deny anybody access to any facility or part of a facility for which they received a grant, on the grounds of gender, civil status, family status, age, disability, race, sexual orientation, religious belief or membership of the Traveller or Roma community without just, reasonable and proper cause. The Government is focused on promoting life-long participation in physical activity and sport for all sectors of society and communities. We are committed to a Sport for All approach, aimed at ensuring all persons have the opportunity to partake equally in sport and physical activity regardless of age, social-economic status, disability, or membership of, for example, the LGBTI+ community, the Traveller community or other ethnic minorities.
My Department routinely carries out compliance reviews and annual spot-checks on a proportion of grant-aided projects as allocations are drawn down and participation and inclusion aspects are an important feature of those reviews.
