Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The hydrotherapy swimming pool in Sligo was closed a number of years ago. I wrote to the Minister in respect of this matter. Deirdre, a woman of advanced years, spoke to me about her daughter, who is 47 and wheelchair-bound. The only way she can exercise properly is in a hydrotherapy swimming pool. She used to use the one in Cregg House, which was quite close to where she lives. Cregg House, a facility owned by a religious institution, was closed during Covid. It then changed hands and is now in private ownership. As a result, the swimming pool cannot be accessed by the public for health purposes. I wrote to the Minister and got a reply from the HSE in March. It said it was entering negotiations with the Woodbrook Care group, which now owns the facility. However, my understanding is that nothing has come of that. This has left dozens of people in the north west who are severely disabled and who need access to this facility unable to access it. The HSE needs to build a new facility of that nature, an option which would be down the road a bit. It needs to find a mechanism to reopen the facility at Cregg House.

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