Questions

1552. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to outline the specific issues or concerns that are causing delay in progressing the project to Gateway 2 Tender Stage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24265/26]

1553. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to confirm the expected timeline for a decision on Gateway 1 approval and to indicate when the project will be in a position to proceed to tender and subsequent submission of the Final Business Case under Gateway 3; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24266/26]

1554. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether consideration is being given to simplifying or streamlining the approval and drawdown process for grants of this scale in order to avoid prolonged delays in the delivery of important community amenity infrastructure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24267/26]

1555. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to confirm that once Gateway approvals are completed the grant of €3 million will be formally approved to allow the local authority to appoint a contractor and commence works; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24268/26]

1560. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the specific datasets, analytical methodologies, and weighting criteria used by his Department to inform geographic allocation decisions under recent rounds of the Community Sport Facilities Fund; and whether these methodologies are formally documented and subject to periodic review. [24671/26]

1561. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether his Department operates any formal oversight or audit mechanism to assess regional equity in the distribution of Community Sport Facilities Fund allocations; and if so, to outline the findings of any such assessments since 2020. [24672/26]

1562. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether he will commit to publishing draft guidelines for future rounds of the Community Sport Facilities Fund in advance of opening dates; and whether any internal timeline or policy change is currently under consideration in this regard. [24673/26]

1563. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether his Department has undertaken any assessment of the adequacy of current grant thresholds for large-scale urban sports infrastructure projects in cities such as Cork; and whether consideration is being given to alternative funding models to address such needs. [24674/26]

143. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the projected overall budget envelope for the 2026 round of the Community Sport Facilities Fund and whether this will exceed the €277.9 million allocated under the 2023 round. [22544/26]

144. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the funding streams available for a young chess player (details supplied [22750/26]

556. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if a group (details supplied) will be permitted to utilise the funding awarded to it under the 2023 Sports Capital Equipment Programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21729/26]

565. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the length of lease and any other associated documentation from the landowner that is required for application to his Department's Sports Capital Programme; if there are any instances where an application for the Sports Capital Programme would be considered for assessment without such a lease arrangement in place but with the writte…

378. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to confirm that League of Ireland funding for astroturf will not be cut by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17996/26]

380. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the number and names of all clubs (details supplied) awaiting a decision on relevant Department-backed capital grants to provide funding for astroturf playing facilities/surfaces; the number of existing allocations which are awaiting drawdown for the clubs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18103/26]

381. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport following the EU ban on the sale of rubber crumb infill in artificial grass pitches from 2032, to confirm if all projects involving artificial grass pitches being grant-aided by the State, through a Sports Capital Grant or directly by his Department or another department, will be conditional on another safer infill product being us…

139. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether any specific funding is available for capital projects for women’s sports where the organisation does not currently own a playing pitch. [16724/26]

141. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport when the next round of the community sport facilities fund will be open; if he will consider allowing clubs use this fund to buy land; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16263/26]

150. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport when the next round of the community sports facilities fund will open; the criteria that will be used to assess applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16793/26]

151. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the total value of grants awarded under the Community Sport Facilities Fund to clubs in County Meath in 2024 and 2025; if his Department has identified specific "under-invested" regions for the 2026 funding round; the steps being taken to ensure that grassroots rural clubs are not disadvantaged by complex application processes compared…

155. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if specific funding can be provided to NGBs towards coaching costs (details supplied), to assist in providing sporting opportunities and pathways leading from local sport to national and international competition for their members; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16778/26]

157. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if the sports capital and equipment fund will open for applications in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16745/26]

160. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport when the next round of the sports capital and equipment programme will be announced; the expected timeline for the opening of applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16794/26]

163. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he has discussed the potential total funding that will be available for the next round of the community sports facilities fund; if his Department has completed the review of the last round of the same fund; the timeline for the next round of the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16720/26]

166. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if the community sports facilities fund will open for applications in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16744/26]

167. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport when he intends to announce the next round of funding under the community sports facilities fund; if any amendments to the eligibility or assessment criteria are planned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16722/26]