To ask the Minister for Communities whether consideration has been given to increasing payments made under the Sports Sustainability Fund, particularly for sporting clubs that operate restaurants and licensed premises.

The £25 million Sports Sustainability Fund closed for applications on 20 January. Sport NI is currently assessing a total of 38 applications from sports governing bodies, which includes claims for funding for their affiliated sports clubs.

The Fund recognised that hospitality is an important income stream for many sports clubs and included provision for clubs to submit details of the income and expenditure from their social club bars and food provision.

The Sustainability Fund aims to cover the net losses which clubs have faced and there are no plans to increase payments beyond this.

Sport NI expect to commence making payments to successful applicants from the end of February.