Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for agreeing to take this matter on the Adjournment Debate. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Kelleher, to the House. I believe it is his first time here since he was a Senator. I wish him well in his new portfolio. I have no doubt he has no inclination to be here other than with his ministerial duties.

The case for a new swimming pool for Castlebar is well documented. I raised this issue approximately ten years ago and it has a long history. I hope the Minister of State will have good news on this. The main problem is with regard to the size of the grant proposed by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. We must examine the funding of local authorities. In recent days, I listened to a discussion on my local radio station about a grant made available for a sewerage scheme in Claremorris where the local authority must come up with 60% under a serviced land initiative. In another case in Ballina the local authority must contribute 30%. Where will local authorities find money for all the schemes put forward? Local government funding is a time-bomb.

During the past ten years we saw rapid growth in housing estates and local authorities benefited from development charges. The downturn in the housing market will place enormous strain on local authorities when one considers benchmarking and local contributions the Department proposes they make.

In this case, I am led to believe the Department will put forward a grant of €3.8 million whereas the cost of the swimming pool for Castlebar will be approximately €9 million or €10 million. The local authority will not be able to come up with a local contribution of €5 million or €6 million. When I raised this issue ten years ago, the total cost of refurbishing the old Castlebar swimming pool was approximately £1.7 million. Mayo County Council, along with Castlebar Town Council, decided for better or for worse that they would seek a greenfield site for a new swimming pool.

Local authorities must raise contributions of between 30% and 40% for sewerage and water schemes and approximately 60% for serviced land initiatives which is clawed back through development charges. We also see where local authorities must raise substantial moneys for piers, harbours, roads, disasters such as flooding and recycling.

The case for Castlebar swimming pool is deserving. It is the county town of Mayo and is its largest town. It has expanded greatly over the past 20 years and deserves a better swimming pool. The existing pool is run on a shoestring and it can break down at any given point. I appeal to the Minister of State that if the size of the grant is a contributory factor in this project being delayed, he should put the case to the Minister for this deserving project for a progressing town.