John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Gogarty. It is obviously an exceptionally important project for his area that he has campaigned for over a significant period of time. I acknowledge the people that were previously involved, including his own dad, as he mentioned.

Sport is really important, as are pools. I come from a sporting background myself in that I am a qualified physical education teacher. I understand the importance of having good quality sports infrastructure in all of our communities right across the country.

As I said in my opening statement - it speaks to some of the frustration the Deputy has outlined - of the 52 pool projects under the local authority swimming pool projects, only one of them remains uncompleted, and that is Lucan swimming pool. The positives I take from the response that I have put on the record of the House is that a new contractor has now been appointed in order to complete the works. That is very important.

In terms of swimming more generally, the 2024 to 2027 strategy sets out an important vision in order to try to increase participation and take-up of people in learning what is a very valuable life skill, as close to their communities as possible. The Government will continue to put additional funding behind the swim strategy. Some €1.5 million has been allocated for the period 2025 to 2026. The governing body, Swim Ireland, is currently undertaking an analysis of the overall ownership structure of swimming pools across the country that will feed in to future projects. I assure the Deputy that this is something the Department will keep a close eye on, as we want to see this project completed and the pool opened as quickly as possible.

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