Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. There is a huge need for this in Loughrea. There is no pool within 25 km of the town. The town itself has a population of 6,500, with a further 15,000 or so people in the hinterland. There are five schools in the town and many children who cannot access swimming facilities on an ongoing basis. We know all the health and wellbeing benefits that this kind of project can bring to people with disabilities, the elderly and everybody in the community. There are specific challenges for the swimming pool committee in Loughrea in accessing funding to get a project like this up and running. Significant funding is needed for the initial stages of project development. As it stands, the LSSIF requires a huge contribution from the local authority and it does not assist with project development. That is a particular challenge in County Galway because our local authority has serious funding issues. The Government has consistently underfunded our council. Will this be looked at and will a specific funding stream for pools be considered? A total of 35 out of 96 is not sufficient for the demand in our communities.

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