Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not speak on the budget; we will speak about that issue later. I acknowledge there has been major investment in sports. Sport capital grants were announced last week and they are really helpful. There needs to be, however, a special emphasis on swimming and the ability of people to actually get into the water, particularly with regard to swimming pools and even access to beaches. I came across two examples of this issue over the weekend. Parents are waiting 18 months to get swimming lessons. They are really frustrated by the system. The only way to get a swimming lesson is to join the leisure centre and then pay for swimming lessons afterwards. It costs approximately €1,000 for leisure centre membership and potentially another €180 for six weeks of lessons. That is really significant for families when it comes to trying to get kids into the water and afford such chaotic bills.

In my part of the world, while we have a wonderful coastline, access to that coastline is an issue. We have really wonderful beaches in places like Oysterhaven. A wonderful swimming class happens there too. Amenities like a changing area or even a pathway into the sea to help people get into it would be helpful. Small money spent on beaches would do so much to help people to enter the water. I am calling for a debate on how we can increase our capacity, as a nation, to get swimming lessons going. A dual approach must be taken, one which involves both people who get into salt water and those who need to get into a swimming pool. We need to have investment in both projects for that to happen. One of the projects is big and the other is small but both will have a huge impact on our society.