Sports Funding

Tuesday, 22 September 2026

Ceisteanna (335)

Seán Kyne

Ceist:

335. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will now reconsider a project's application (details supplied) submitted under the 2024 Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF); whether the achievement of planning approval will now be taken into account in reassessing the project's readiness and deliverability; whether his Department will engage directly with Galway City Council with a view to progressing an allocation from the existing LSSIF round rather than requiring the project to await a future funding call; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66985/26]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport

The Large-Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) was established under the National Sports Policy to provide Exchequer support for larger sports facility projects, typically those requiring investments greater than the maximum available under the Community Sport Facilities Fund (CSFF).

The 2024 round of LSSIF received an unprecedented demand for funding, amounting to €665 million from 96 applicants. As a result of this significant demand, a range of valid applications did not receive an LSSIF allocation at the initial allocation stage. Unfortunately, the application for the Kingston Park and Millers Lane project did not receive an allocation at that time.

It should be noted that, should additional funding become available, eligible applications that did not receive funding under the 2024 round and whose proposed projects align with key strategic national priorities and strategies such as the National Swimming Strategy could be considered for funding support in advance of a future round of the LSSIF.

With regard to a future round of the LSSIF, my current focus is on ensuring project delivery under the first two rounds of the LSSIF, 2018 and 2024, and this process will inform any decisions regarding the timing of the next round of LSSIF funding.