The Great Recession meant fiscal retrenchment. Capital expenditure was slashed. The government made good on the grants they had promised sporting clubs but the promises stopped. It was 2014 before there was a recovery in capital expenditure for sport.
The fiscal crisis also had implications for non-capital expenditure. It also declined but by a fraction of the cuts made to capital expenditure. Non-capital expenditure does not show the same variation as capital expenditure. It increased steadily from 2004 to 2008. It has remained pretty close to €50m since 2008. It dipped below €50m for a few years before a recent recovery. Most of this non-capital expenditure goes to Sport Ireland.
It would be reasonable to expect 2018 expenditure on sport to resemble 2017 - at least until we know the outcome of our Rugby World Cup bid.