Fine Gael Kildare South TD and Minister, Martin Heydon, has welcomed confirmation of record funding of €250m for the current Sports Capital and Equipment Programme for which allocations are due to be announced in the Autumn.
Minister Heydon said “This allocation will facilitate the largest-ever investment in sports facilities across the country and represents a 50% increase on the funding allocated in early 2022 under the last round of the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme. I will be hoping to see positive allocations for all valid applications submitted from Kildare clubs and groups under this 2023 Programme.
Since 1998, more than 13,000 projects have benefited from sports capital funding, bringing the total allocations in that time to approximately €1.15 billion. It is generally accepted that the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme has transformed the sporting landscape of Ireland with improvements in the quality and quantity of sporting facilities around the Country and we have some very fine examples of that here in Kildare.
“A total of 3,210 applications have been received from clubs around the Country for this current programme and these applications are currently being assessed with individual allocations due to be confirmed in the Autumn.
“ I have been working with a number of Kildare sports clubs in relation to their applications and will continue this work with more local clubs over the summer months”, concluded Minister Heydon.