Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I agree that there are significant benefits for young and old people alike using a swimming pool. The Minister of State, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, is unable to here today due to prior commitments and he has asked me to respond on his behalf. While I may not be able to answer all of the Senator's queries, I will certainly try to do so.

As the Senator is aware, the local authority swimming pool programme, as administered by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, provides grant aid towards the capital cost of new public swimming pools or the refurbishment of existing public swimming pools. The programme provides for maximum grant aid of €3.8 million per project. There are four principal stages which must be undertaken by a local authority in developing a swimming pool project. These are preliminary report, including the feasibility study; contract documents; tender stage; and construction stage.The Department's technical adviser evaluates each stage and local authorities may not proceed to the next stage of a project until prior approval issues from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

I will now give the Senator an outline of what has happened in the past in the provision of a swimming pool in the Fingal area. A proposal for a new pool in Skerries, County Dublin was originally included in the 2000 round of the programme and the Department approved the preliminary report in January 2001. However, as no contract documents or tender report were ever received for a pool in Skerries, the grant was not approved for that particular project. The Skerries project was planned as a public private partnership, PPP, between a private developer and Fingal County Council. In March 2009 the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport received a letter from Fingal County Council stating the proposal had been terminated owing to difficulties with the residential element of the proposed scheme. It also stated the new priority for Fingal County Council was locating a pool in Balbriggan in preference to the original location in Skerries.

In April 2009 Fingal County Council forwarded a preliminary report on the new pool proposal in Balbriggan. The proposal was for Balbriggan Rugby Football Club, in conjunction with a private swimming pool operator, to build a swimming pool on the club's grounds at Balrothery. The pool would be managed by the swimming pool operator who would also put finance in place for the development of the project. The estimated cost of the project was €8 million which would be financed by €750,000 from Fingal County Council and €2.5 million under the local authority swimming pool programme, LASPP, with the balance to be provided by the swimming pool operator.

The Office of Public Works approved the preliminary report on the pool in Balbriggan in May 2009, subject to a minor modification and the local authority and the Department being satisfied that the tender process would be transparent and fair. The council was also asked to consider issues of procurement and State aid to a private operator and to ensure all relevant EU directives would be adhered to in the public procurement process. It is understood that, owing to difficulties in adhering to these requirements, there was no further progress on the project on the Balbriggan site. Accordingly, in January 2016, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport wrote to Fingal County Council raising concerns about the delay and asking the council to consider withdrawing the project from the LASPP. The letter stated that if Fingal County Council agreed to the withdrawal of the Balbriggan swimming pool project from the LASPP, it might be possible for the council or Balbriggan Rugby Football Club to receive a sports capital grant allocation instead. Fingal County Council agreed to the voluntary withdrawal of the Balbriggan project from the programme and the Department formally notified the council of its removal in April 2016. Fingal County Council subsequently applied for a special sports capital grant allocation for Balbriggan Rugby Football Club. This must meet all of the usual terms and conditions of the sports capital programme and is capped at €500,000. I understand the application is being considered by the Department.

The Senator should note that of the four local authorities contacted in 2016, three agreed to the voluntary withdrawal of pool projects from the programme. The projects remaining in the current programme are those in Dunmanway, Castlebar, Buncrana, Edenderry and Lucan, each of which is at various stages. The priority for 2017 is progressing the aforementioned projects through the next stages, as appropriate.

On the future funding of swimming pools, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport is undertaking a review of national sports policy which includes a specific focus on how the Government should fund sports facilities, including swimming pools, in the years ahead. Furthermore, as part of the Department's submission as part of the mid-term capital plan review, additional funding has been sought for large-scale sports infrastructure, including swimming pools. If this funding is received, it will allow consideration to be given to new projects. It will be open to all local authorities, including Fingal County Council, to submit an application under the terms that will apply.

I again thank the Senator for raising this issue and reiterate the Government's commitment to improving the stock of all sports facilities across the country. I also apologise again on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan.