Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the amount of public money that will be spent on the redevelopment of Casement Park in Belfast.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport wrote to Gordon Lyons MLA, the Northern Ireland Minister for Communities, on Friday 13 September to update him on the funding of Casement Park for EURO 2028. The letter (which is published on gov.uk and a copy of which I will place in the Library of both Houses) states that they have, regrettably, decided that it is not appropriate for the UK Government to provide funding to seek to build Casement Park in time to host matches at EURO 2028 based on unreasonable cost and high delivery risk.

The Government will seek engagement with Northern Ireland partners, including the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the coming weeks, to discuss this decision in more detail as well as seeking views on the appropriate way forward for Casement Park.