Ministers clashed over a plan to boost spending on sports infrastructure by 300 per cent which was criticised as lacking “realism”, documents show.
Minister of State Jack Chambers saw the request for €170 million in extra funding for large scale sports infrastructure knocked back in June by Fianna Fáil colleague Michael McGrath, then the minister for public expenditure and reform, documents show.
A number of projects “currently paused” because of building inflation were identified including the redevelopment of the Connacht Rugby Sportsground and the RDS Main Arena for Leinster Rugby.
A briefing document released under Freedom of Information laws and prepared for Mr McGrath outlines how then-minister for sport Mr Chambers sought the 300 per cent increase, alongside tens of millions more for a National Velodrome and Badminton Centre.
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Officials in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) were dismissive, saying increases of the level proposed “are not feasible”. In speaking points prepared for Mr McGrath, officials advised him to tell his colleague: “This is a proposed increase of 300 per cent!”
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“You know the pressures the Government, minister [for finance Paschal] Donohoe and myself will face in the Budget: cost-of-living pressures; Ukraine-related expenditure; Brexit; Covid; any public service pay deal; the health sector; housing needs. These are only the most obvious. There are many others,” the prepared speaking points for Mr McGrath read.
Officials advised him to tell Mr Chambers that the proposals could not be examined “in isolation” from the overall estimate for the wider Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, the Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
“It will not be possible to contemplate increases of the level you envisage without creating pressure for similar increases in the rest of Minister [Catherine] Martin’s department, as well as in other departments.
“Realism is essential in this Budget. Prioritisation is essential,” the briefing note suggested, adding that it was “very important” the department “not give rise to unrealistic expectations of what can be funded from the capital allocations for sport”.
A document submitted by Mr Chambers to DPER outlined how no project which had been seeking funding towards construction or development under the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) had been given the full amount sought. The fund provides support for larger facilities where State funding is more than the €300,000 maximum available under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme.
Initial applications to the fund, which was allocated €100 million, totalled €172 million in 2019 values, but Mr Chambers claimed it would need between €335 million and €470 million to meet demand and that the lower level of funding provided meant “it was not possible to provide funding for many worthy projects”.
With lower levels of funding awarded, DPER was warned that the Department of Sport was aware of “at least eight projects that have financing difficulties” brought on by Covid and rapid inflation.
It offered the “prime example” of Kildare GAA’s plan to improve its county ground, initially estimated at €10.5 million and awarded a grant of just under €5 million, but where total costs had ballooned to €16 million. “In the absence of additional Government support the project cannot proceed,” Sport officials warned. The project was later paused, but Kildare GAA aims to commence it next year.
A list of projects “currently paused” and supplied to DPER indicates where projects were facing headwinds – although some appear to have made progress.
It includes the redevelopment of the Sportsground by Connacht Rugby, where procurement is under way currently, and the Main Arena by the RDS, where officials said costs had risen by €2 million and almost €6 million respectively.
The document outlined that a training and education centre being developed by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association had also stalled, as had the FAI’s Munster Centre of Excellence. A plan to modernise Páirc Tailteann in Meath, and plans to develop the Watershed Leisure Centre in Kilkenny and a design for a Thurles Regional Sports Campus, were also on ice.
The document also suggests that Mr Chambers made a play for the income from a sports betting tax to be put aside for sports infrastructure, but was told the Department of Finance was “unlikely to be enthusiastic about any proposal to hypothecate a tax for sports infrastructure”, with the proceeds of a betting duty to account for negative consequences of problem gambling.
