The Minister of State for Sport has admitted that the lack of sports facilities in parts of Dublin city centre is a ‘scandal’.
Over recent months, The Pat Kenny Show has been highlighting the lack of green spaces in Dublin 8 – where around 8,500 children have no green area to play sports.
In recent weeks, local campaigners have identified two sites as possible locations for new green areas – one at St Teresa's Gardens and another at Marrowbone Lane.
On the show this morning, Junior Sports Minister Thomas Byrne was asked if he agreed it was a 'scandal' that so many children have no access to facilities.
"Yes I do and I also don't accept that it's only Dublin 8," he said.
"I think that this is an issue around the country particularly in suburban areas.
"We do need more sports facilities [and] recreational facilities.
"We have targets at Government level to reach 60% adult participation in sport - we can only do that if we have more facilities".
'Small number of projects'
Minister Byrne said Dublin's layout means there are some constraints.
"We do need more facilities close to where people live," he said.
"Clearly there are constraints in central Dublin; if there's no area to put a green area that is obviously a problem.
"I do know that Dublin City Council (DCC) have a number of plans... what I would like to do, certainly, is invite Dublin City Council to apply for funding to implement some of those plans".
Minister Byrne said DCC applied for a "relatively small number of projects" under the Sports Capital Programme which closed last September.
"We will be soon opening the large-scale Sports Infrastructure Fund," he said.
"I've heard from Dublin City Council, I don't know what they'll prioritise in that and they will have to prioritise their applications.
"They've spoken a lot about Dalymount Park but they will also be able to apply for significant funding for playing facilities under that fund".
'Deliverability'
Minister Byrne said he can't give guarantees on what may be developed.
"If they came to us with an application for large-scale sports infrastructure funding... I can't give any guarantees over the radio but clearly we want to make sure that there are more sports facilities in areas where there are none," he said.
"So I would strongly urge Dublin City Council to examine that".
Minister Byrne said local authorities have to tell the Government which projects they want to see.
"If a project comes in from a local authority there's a certain element of deliverability there already because a local authority is, generally speaking, able to do these things," he added.
Minister Byrne said that while 'major facilities' are important there needs to be a focus on facilities for kids and adults to play on.
