One-off housing, particularly in rural areas like Roscommon, no more than my own area, is a really important part of housing output. It is important to the vibrancy of rural communities as well. I understand the argument the Deputy is making in respect of how you tie the contribution people are paying directly to a service that is being delivered in return. I have outlined the position of the Department and the Minister that there will not be any extension to the waiver. Obviously, that benefited one-off housing an…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and allowing me to clarify the current position in relation to pay and conditions for school secretaries. As we know from our engagement with schools in our respective constituencies, the school secretary is very much at the heart of the school and is the key interface between students, parents, school leaders and other staff. Without them, our schools would be unsustainable. In supporting these vital school staff members, we also support the school community as a whole. T…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on the floor of the House. I will pass on the argument and case he has made to the Minister for Education. As I said, there have been significant advancements, as I think we would all recognise. I laid them out in my earlier reply as well. The implementation of revised salary and annual leave entitlements for school secretaries in the February 2022 agreement is now fully operational and lessons learned from that process are playing a key role in the drafting and implementa…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It is something he has been relentlessly pursuing to ensure it progresses. I confirm that the Department has received supplementary information from the OPW following a request made under section 7B(4) of the European Union (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Arterial Drainage) Regulations 2019. The Department is making arrangements for a public consultation to be held on the supplementary information received to date. Details of this consultation will be made available in…

I again thank the Deputy for raising this matter and for his continued advocacy on progressing the scheme. While the delays in the delivery of the scheme are a source of frustration for the Deputy's constituents and all in Blackpool, as he is aware it is imperative that the consent process progresses in a manner that is compliant with the relevant regulations. In the period since the original consent decision was overturned following the judicial review challenge, the Department has undertaken a number of measures …

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and I know that Raheny Shamrocks is a club to which he is very committed. His question today relates to the potential for a visit from me to the clubhouse, which is something that both Deputies Heneghan and Brabazon have raised with me. I received an invitation from Deputy Brabazon previously and I responded to the effect that I will be visiting the club on 20 May. I look forward to seeing both Deputies then and to meeting club members. The club has a wonderful history and…

I know the club has done wonderful work there historically but also in terms of seeking to develop the club in recent years. It was supported in 2018 and 2020 through sports capital grants. I know it purchased a new building in Raheny and is considering how it can develop it having purchased the old Catholic church in Raheny village. I look forward to seeing how we can work with it in the time ahead. We will open sports capital grants next year. The large scale sports infrastructure grants first opened in 2019, wit…

I thank Deputy Ó Muirí for his representations and support for the club. The challenge at a national level is the number of asks. If we look at the large scale infrastructure fund most recently, we can see that there were 96 applications nationally and, of these, 35 projects were successful. This meant that €173 million in total was allocated out of an ask in terms of the numbers that came in of €665 million. This is always the challenge but we have seen significant progress in backing the wonderful clubs across al…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 100, 105, 108 and 137 together. I thank the Deputies for their questions. The programme for Government commits to supporting the sporting community across the country to ensure more people participate, reap the benefits of sport and fulfil their potential from grassroots right up to high-performance level. We are achieving this and will continue to achieve it through a number of measures, including maintaining sports funding to get more people participating at all levels of sport, p…

It has been wonderful in recent years to see the strong increase in participation across many sports and how that has been driven forward and facilitated by the wonderful volunteer ethos at local level in terms of organising and facilitating so much sports activity through clubs on an ongoing basis. There is also great work in terms of leveraging sports capital grants and developing those facilities. That is something we want to continue to back, as a Government, and I know it is something the Deputy wants to see c…

I would certainly be delighted to visit because it sounds like one of the prime examples of what is possible and how, by collaborating, we can maximise the impact of this investment. That is something we want to see more of across the country and, anywhere there is an opportunity to do that, to back it. We are also looking at how we can work in as strong a way as possible through integrating and working with schools and school settings so those facilities that might not otherwise be used often during the day, where…

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. I know of the great excitement in the county this week in the run-up to the Leinster final this weekend. It has been added to by the under-age success, which has been wonderful to see and is a great reflection on the great work done by Louth GAA at all levels. I look forward to seeing the game this weekend. If it is half as dramatic as the previous one, I am sure it will grip the entire country. With regard to Deputy Ó Murchú's query on the large-scale sports infrastructure fund application…

The LSSIF was first announced with a funding round in 2019. It is a relatively new fund in that regard, with the objective of trying to ensure that the Government can work to support the development of large-scale sporting facilities across the country. So far, we have had two rounds, in 2019 and 2024. Between both of those, €297 million has been invested, which is making a significant impact on the development of really good facilities across the country. We had 96 applications in the most recent round, 35 of whic…

It will be very much dependent on funding. That is something on which we will have engagement in the budgetary process to see what the potential is. The opening and announcement of new funding under the sports capital grant and the regional grants under the sports capital facilities fund have generally been every two years. I expect in the first part of next year to open up the sports facilities fund. On the large-scale funding, there have only been two rounds so far, in 2019 and 2014. The funding requirement for t…

I thank the Deputy for raising this. There has been great progress in participation, and equal participation, by women in all sports. Our national governing bodies have made massive strides in that regard and that has been matched by the Government in relation to funding. I am very aware of the issue. It is very important that players engage with the Camogie Association. I have had engagement with the Camogie Association as well and it is important that they come together to find a resolution that is comfortable fo…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and for recognising the important role that the sports capital grant plays in helping sports clubs across the country to develop facilities and back the work done by so many volunteers across sporting clubs. As the Deputy outlined from his experience in his role with Prosperous United, massive work makes sport an important part of people's lives. That is something that we, as a Government, want to continue to support and develop in the time ahead. A key mechanism for doing…

The KDUL grant has been brought to the Department's attention. The grant was fully drawn down and the Department is not aware of any evidence to suggest it has been used for any purpose other than that intended, nor is there any evidence of non-compliance with the terms and conditions of the programme in respect of the grant or on the part of the grantee. I will respond to the Deputy directly with more detail on the issue. I think we are all agreed on the massive importance of this sports capital funding. The fundi…

I thank Deputy Byrne and congratulate her on her election and her spokespersonship. In response to the question, the programme for Government, as the Deputy knows, includes a commitment to explore new mechanisms for the creation of football academies with the FAI and the League of Ireland. My Department has provided additional funding to the FAI to enable it to produce a report on developing football academies. This will include a baseline audit of existing academy structures and needs, and that will then inform th…

We have seen great momentum and great attendances in recent times in the League of Ireland. There was a great example recently in the Aviva Stadium, with 33,000 people attending. I want to work with the FAI and all in grassroots football to build on that momentum in order to make sure that right across the country the support and development opportunities are there for young children to get involved in this sport, to excel and to develop their participation. At the moment, the Government, through the memorandum of …

I see real potential here as to how we can develop an academy system. Obviously, we have to make sure we develop it in a way that is sustainable and makes the biggest impact. The plans are not there yet as to how exactly that would work. I want to see how they would work. We have given some funding to the FAI to do an audit and to put an administrator in place, to see how we can step that out. Then, as to how we follow through from a Government point of view, I want to see real results in that regard and liaise clo…