Sports Funding
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-20
============================================================

Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal

It is certainly my objective and that of the Minister, Deputy O’Donovan, in terms of the next round to make sure that we have it as amenable to clubs as possible and as practical as possible for them to be able to apply. Last time around with the appeals, almost all of the clubs that applied were supported. They were given the opportunity through the appeals process to have any issues corrected. The objective here has to be to work to make sure that clubs get the support they need, not to exclude them from it. That will be the objective again.
As we gather information and feedback from around the country in advance of the next round opening, we will be listening to what people are saying to make sure that it works. Obviously, it has to be a robust and effective application system. We want to make sure it is as practical as possible and also that clubs of all sizes do not feel intimidated by the process, and that they do apply. As I travel the country, I rarely come across a club anywhere that is not under pressure for space. That is a reflection of the success of the great work the volunteers and clubs are putting in. It also puts an onus on us to support them in developing those facilities to meet the demand they are creating.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-20