131. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the progress made towards meeting the programme for Government commitment to support local authorities in the acquisition of new lands for parks and playing pitches; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34641/25]

Sentiment score: 0.28

There is a very progressive commitment in the programme for Government to support local authorities in the acquisition of new lands for parks and playing pitches to help build liveable communities. We all know the importance of active recreational spaces. Have efforts commenced to develop a strategy around that commitment?

Sentiment score: 0.62

The Minister of State noted many of the challenges that sports groups and local authorities meet in the development of facilities. The programme for Government also includes a complementary commitment to conduct a nationwide audit of sports facilities to address shortages in areas where there is a population of over 1,500. The audit will probably find a deficit in the provision of playing spaces in urban areas. I am not familiar with the locations but I have heard from some of my colleagues and from the media that there are significant parts of Dublin city which have no active recreational spaces for clubs to pursue their interests. That is something we need to challenge. It also happens outside Dublin. The demand for land has led to increased pressure in terms of its price. That makes it difficult for voluntary clubs to be able to purchase the land, as the Minister of State noted in his response. The viability of buying land for sporting clubs in our major urban areas is a really significant challenge.

Sentiment score: 0.08

The GAA has done a lot of analysis of its activities in different parts of the country. It is concerned about the future organisation of the GAA in some urban communities because the lack of playing space will limit its ability to undertake activities and increase its membership among new communities. That is worth noting in this debate. As a concrete example, in 2017 Galway City Council developed the Kingston master plan for an area quite close to where I live. It was to include playgrounds, changing rooms, outdoor gym equipment, pedestrian walkway, cycle paths, a pitch and ancillary facilities. We are yet to see that go to planning. We have been talking about it for eight years but, due to the challenge of financing it and some of the land not yet being in local authority ownership, it has not come to fruition. The Minister of State noted the challenge of purchasing land not currently covered by the sports capital grant. We could have something like the Housing Finance Agency for local authorities to allow them to draw down long-term loans at low interest rates for the purchase of land specifically for community and sporting facilities.

Sentiment score: 0.22