David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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12. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht further to Parliamentary Question No. 604 of 26 April 2022, the progress that has been made in the development of the national swimming strategy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56522/22]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I heard the Minister of State's previous response regarding this issue of the national swimming strategy. Will he agree that every child should have the opportunity to learn to swim and that it is extremely important for physical and mental health? Where is the strategy? What is the Minister of State's vision for the strategy? What instructions has he given to the committee in respect of the parameters on this? I refer to the committee that has been established. When does the Minister of State expect to get its report?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The National Sports Policy 2018-2027 and the Sports Action Plan 2021-2023 commit to the development and implementation of a national swimming strategy. The strategy will be the first of its kind in Ireland and will be based on a vision to provide everyone in Ireland with an opportunity to swim. It will be suited to all ages and abilities and will seek to recognise swimming as a life skill with participation potential over the full course of life.

The working group tasked with the detailed work of preparing the strategy is chaired by my Department and comprises representatives from relevant national governing bodies for sport and stakeholders, specifically Swim Ireland, Sport Ireland, CARA, Ireland Active and the local authorities. An online public consultation process was launched on 9 September 2022 and closed on 7 October 2022. An extensive consultation across relevant stakeholders has operated in parallel with this process and is now drawing to a conclusion.

I have been very heartened by the response rates to the consultation, which are testament to the increased popularity of swimming and the critical role it can play in terms of our physical health and mental well-being. Work is ongoing on the analysis of the very large number of responses received to ensure that the strategy encompasses all of the issues raised and views expressed to the greatest extent possible. Thousands of submissions were made as part of the public consultation.

That is being dealt with through each submission. It is important where we have that scale of input from communities that we use that to the benefit of a positive national swimming strategy.

We had hoped to conclude it by year end and work is ongoing to bring it to a conclusion. However, I also want to make sure we get it right and it may be into early next year before it is concluded.

We are keen on matching the ambition and vision that is there with the pop-up pools we have established in certain areas where there is a deficit of swimming pool infrastructure. We are looking to partner with Swim Ireland continuously on that.

There are new innovative ways that we can deliver opportunities from a water safety perspective for communities across the country and this strategy will encompass all of that when it is published.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Minister of State on finally getting this off the ground because it has been promised for quite a number of years.

Maybe the Minister of State could tell the House what is his ambition for and vision of this strategy. I am sure the Minister of State is aware that schools are finding it difficult to provide swimming which is part of the curriculum, especially if they have to travel fairly long distances to get to a swimming pool and if there is a cost involved in that which they find it difficult to meet. There is also class time lost in many instances. Will this strategy include some form of national analysis of locations of swimming pools and the need for swimming pools in certain areas? Can the Minister of State be any more definite with respect to when this strategy will be published and concluded?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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We expect it to conclude early next year, more than likely. I had hoped to conclude it by the end of the year but 6,000 responses were received. As the Deputy will be aware, there are many consultations done in communities with often less than 100 responses in many instances. That shows the scale of the interest. We expect it to conclude early next year.

On the question of the deficits of infrastructure, we have a separate piece of work ongoing with Sport Ireland to map and match every piece of sporting infrastructure across the country so that one can quickly see where there are specific deficits within communities where there might be long commuter times. That must have a parallel role in how we invest our capital resources that where there is a specific deficit we can address that through funding streams going into the future. That is an important strategic piece of work.

We are keen as well to deliver new swimming opportunities. We have the traditional model, which is to build a big leisure centre in certain areas where there are then longer commutes for people. The pop-up pools have been a great example where one can bring a piece of infrastructure into a community that brings water safety and swimming lessons for communities that have never had the opportunity to have that, apart from a long commute. They are the types of new models of delivering infrastructure which we are examining. That is one element of it but there are other examples that Swim Ireland is working on. We are engaging with them on that.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I come from one of the fastest growing towns in the country, Midleton in east Cork. Recently, there was a feasibility study carried out on the need for a swimming pool in the area. Part of the problem is trying to find a site. Part of the problem is to get the local authority to buy-in to it. The population growth is projected to be significant. There is a local group established to put this forward but it is running into all kinds of obstacles. Can the Minister of State offer them any assistance, guidance or advice as to how they can proceed with the putting in place of a swimming pool in a large area which is to grow significantly in the next number of years in the two instances of finding a site and encouraging the local authority to support it as well, which is crucial?

That comes back to my original point that if one cannot find land and if the land is not zoned for it, one cannot go ahead and do anything. We need a national statement from the Minister of State on this matter directing local authorities to be proactive in this regard.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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We need to see local authorities deliver more swimming opportunities for local communities. That is why we also have to look at different models of delivering that infrastructure. There has been a reluctance amongst local authorities to build the traditional leisure centre model and that is why the pop-up pools have been an enormous success. They have been in Donabate and in west Wicklow. There is one in Tubbercurry in Sligo presently.

Swim Ireland is looking at new models and ways to partner with communities and with local authorities on delivering new types of infrastructure which deliver the participation benefit and deliver the community benefit when it comes to the deficit of infrastructure that is there. That model is being assessed. It is obviously being piloted currently. They are partnerships between local authorities, communities and Swim Ireland, with the State purchasing some of the pop-up pools as well. That is an example that I would encourage local authorities to examine and assess where there is a deficit of infrastructure. The feedback has been extremely positive in communities that have had the pop-up pools.

There are additional examples, beyond pop-up pools, in terms of above-ground modular examples which we are exploring with Swim Ireland which are more cost-effective but deliver the participation benefit. That is all part of the national swimming strategy that we are examining, as I say, looking at different capital types which will deliver the capital benefit when it comes to swimming pools.