The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, and Minister of State, Jack Chambers, today announced details of €1,197,498,000 gross funding allocated to the Department in Budget 2022.

The aim of the Government’s Sports programme is to contribute to a healthier and more active society. This will be done by promoting sports participation and by supporting high performance and the building of sports facilities.

The funding for Sport Ireland has increased to €96.2 million, up by €4.3 million for last year. This money allocation will go into supporting Team Ireland as they prepare for Paris 2024 Olympics and continued help as the sports sector emerges from Covid-19 restrictions.

Minister Chambers said: “I am really pleased we have been able to increase funding for a range of programmes and initiatives for the Irish language and Sport sectors. As we emerge from the pandemic this extra support will ensure more people can return to the sports and activities they love and allow us to build on important initiatives around participation.”

“The funding complements the €65 million sports funding package announced last week and will allow Sport Ireland to continue to support our sporting bodies and ensure the emergence of a strong and vibrant sports sector post-Covid.”

Additional money allocations

The new Budget has also given additional funding to all existing sports projects as well as new allocations under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme. These new allocations will be announced in the coming months.

Budget 2022 reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to developing the Sport Ireland Campus at Blanchardstown with a capital allocation of €9.6m for 2022. Initiatives like this will be made with the intent of attracting major sporting events to Ireland in the future.

Another major positive from the Budget is that it has confirmed that there will be equality in funding for women’s and men’s Gaelic players’ grants.

“Equality in grant funding for female and male Gaelic players is a key priority for me and Minister Martin and I am delighted that we have been able to achieve this,” added Minister Chambers.

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GRI says the allocation will assist with the continued significant expansion of a range of care and welfare initiatives during 2022 and assist with the commercial challenges as the industry recovers from the impact of restrictions experienced during the pandemic.

The governing body for Greyhound Racing in Ireland says the Horse & Greyhound Fund is critically important for an industry that made net contributions to the Irish economy of €132.3M and supported 4,150 full-time and part-time jobs in 2019, the last full year of operation.

“Key priorities of the Board for the remainder of 2021 and throughout 2022 include the continued expansion to the Care and Welfare Programme and the restoration of commercial activities post-COVID-19,” explained Mr Frank Nyhan, Chair of the Board of GRI.

“Income generated from gate admissions, tote operations, restaurant facilities and other areas have been severely impacted by Covid-19 and like other sporting organisations across the country, GRI has greatly benefited from Government support in recent Budgets.

“While last year’s Budget allocation and additional government employee support schemes assisted the organisation in countering some of this lost income, it also enabled GRI to continue expanding on the range of care and welfare initiatives that it operates.”

Mr Nyhan added: “During our engagement with our parent department in recent months we emphasised the crucial need for continued funding to ensure our comprehensive plans regarding animal welfare are delivered along with the commercial and operating challenges encountered since the beginning of the pandemic.  On behalf of the Board and the wider greyhound racing community in Ireland, I would like to acknowledge the Government’s ongoing support for our industry.”

He said that the GRI has invested significantly in its care and welfare programme during 2021 despite the impact on commercial operations during COVID-19.

He confirmed that the funding allocated to greyhound racing under the Horse & Greyhound Fund will assist the organisation in its care and welfare programme expansion plans for the remainder of the year and throughout 2022.

The plans include a further expansion of the Care Centre/Foster Centre Programme and continuing to financially incentivise the rehoming of greyhounds in Ireland through additional supports through the Irish Retired Greyhound Trust (IRGT).

From January to September 2021, the rehoming of 1,610 greyhounds have been achieved compared to 1,775 for the full year of 2020.

Additionally, further investment will be required for the next phase of the rollout of the Rásaíocht Con Éireann Traceability System (RCÉTS), which was launched in January 2021.

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