Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 and 15 together.

In response to the fallout caused by Covid-19, my Department provided funding of €2.5 million in 2020 to support those responsible for publicly accessible swimming pools in responding to the challenge associated with maintaining such pools and the effort to reopen within Covid-19 safety protocols. An additional €3.2 million was also provided in 2021 for this purpose, which is a further acknowledgement of the importance of the sector and the impact swimming has on the nation’s health. The funding was administered by Ireland Active on behalf of Sport Ireland and it supported 280 pools throughout the country. The day-to-day financial management of these public utilities is normally a matter for the operators of the facilities themselves. Capital funding for new swimming pools or the refurbishment of existing pools was previously provided through the local authority swimming pool programme, LASPP. A total of 52 pools have been completed under the LASPP. Three swimming pool projects, namely, those in Lucan, Buncrana and Edenderry, remain in the programme, with the Lucan project currently under construction.

My Department's capital support for new swimming pools is now being provided through the large scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. The national development plan provided a capital allocation of at least €100 million for the fund to 2027. The first call for proposals under the fund was made in 2019, with applications confined to local authorities and sports national governing bodies. All applications were assessed in accordance with the evaluation procedures. Thus far, €86.4 million has been awarded to 33 projects. These initial allocations include funding for eight swimming pool projects. The priority in the short term is to advance all these projects, including the swimming pools, to construction stage.

Regarding future capital funding for pools, we are undertaking a review of progress on all existing LSSIF grants. As part of this review, my Department is also considering the timing of any new call for proposals. Turning to future policy, the national sports policy commits to the development of a national swimming strategy. As part of this, there will be a review of swimming pool provision to identify where gaps exist and how these can be addressed. Furthermore, the Sports Action Plan 2021-2023, which I published last November, contains an action to develop and implement a national swimming strategy to provide additional swimming opportunities indoors and outdoors. Initial preparatory planning work has been undertaken by my Department in this regard. It is intended to establish a working group in the near future to advance the detailed work of preparing a national swimming strategy, with a view to its completion and publication later this year.

See this speech in context