Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport statement on acquiring land for the Development of Playing Pitches in Carlow & Kilkenny

The Minister states:

While neither of my Department's sports capital funding programmes - the Community Sport Facilities Fund (CSFF) and the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) - provide for the acquisition of land I would be supportive of any funding proposal that would enable local authorities to acquire lands for sport and recreation purposes.

The Programme for Government commits to supporting local authorities in the acquisition of new lands for parks and playing pitches to help build liveable communities. My Department intends to engage with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in this context to consider how the above commitment can be supported.

Once lands are acquired for sporting purposes, applications for capital investment (including equipment) on those lands can be supported via the CSFF and the LSSIF.

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 CSFF, representing the largest-ever investment in sports facilities in communities across Ireland. In line with previous rounds of the Fund, a review of the current funding round has been undertaken and will be published shortly. I have asked my Department to prepare for a further round of the CSFF in 2026. It is anticipated that the next CSFF round will particularly target areas and sports that have been under-invested in over the years.

In 2024, the second round of LSSIF received an unprecedented demand for funding. On 4 November 2024, grants totalling €173 million were awarded to 35 projects. As a result of the significant demand, a range of valid applications did not receive an LSSIF allocation at the initial allocation stage.

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 a future round. The timing will also be considered in the context of the determining the detailed spending allocations within my Department under the National Development Plan as recently agreed by Government.