Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media | Position to continue to assist the sporting sector given the increased importance of sporting activity in terms of health and well-being

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Tourism; Culture; Arts; Gaeltacht; Sport and Media the degree to which she expects to be in a position to continue to assist the sporting sector given the increased importance of sporting activity in terms of health and well-being; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

I recognise the importance of sport and physical activity for the health and wellbeing of our society and the need to ensure that opportunities are in place to allow all members of society to participate in sport. 

In the Budget for 2024, Minister Catherine Martin and I announced an overall allocation of €183.3 million for sport. This is an increase of 5% on the 2023 allocation.

The 2024 Budget allocation for Sport Ireland will deliver an increase of over €7 million in its budget, bringing it to €106.7 million. This level of Government funding will allow Sport Ireland to increase its support in a number of very important areas, including a €2 million increase in core funding for sporting organisations and a further €2 million increase in funding for the Women in Sport programme.

An additional €1 million in Government funding is being provided for high-performance sport. This will support Team Ireland as they prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as assisting with the continued development of coaching and pathways support.

The 2024 investment of €11.4 million for the network of 29 Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) provides continued support for the excellent work that is being done at local level to ensure that opportunities exist for everyone to participate in sport.   

Our LSPs across the country play a crucial role in promoting and increasing participation in sport and physical activity at local level and in engaging groups that are underrepresented in sporting activity.

Their strength lies in their ability to promote innovation and inclusiveness, while also working to remove barriers to access and participation, all of which is absolutely critical to our vision of sport in Ireland. 

Sport Ireland is continuing its support of the 29 Sport Inclusion Disability Officers across the country. The 2024 investment of over €1 million will assist with the work being done to encourage and facilitate more people with disabilities to participate in sport and physical activity.

In addition, over €2.1 million is being invested in supporting disability sport focused National Governing Bodies of sport to continue their great work in this area. €140,000 has been provided specifically to Active Disability Ireland for disability awareness and disability inclusion programmes.

Funding of €620,000 is being provided to the Age and Opportunity “Go for Life” programme as part of its commitment to increase participation in recreational sport among older people.

These allocations underline an ongoing commitment to a “Sport for All” approach.

The Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) is the main channel of Government support for developing sports facilities and purchasing sports equipment for sports clubs and organisations. On Thursday 9 May 2024, a record amount of over €26 million in equipment grants under the latest round of the SCEP was announced.

These allocations under the SCEP are in response to equipment-only applications which sporting organisations submitted. Over 900 sports groups were successful in their applications for various types of equipment which will be of practical benefit to multiple sports organisations, their members and athletes across Ireland.

Further allocations under the SCEP, including those for capital works, and capital works with an equipment component, will be announced later.