Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)

I express my sympathies on the tragic loss of the five friends in Dundalk. I extend my sympathies to their family, friends and the wider community. It has been a weekend of very mixed emotions. I want to express huge congratulations to the Irish football team. Like Senator Brady, I remember Italia 90 well. There is a new boy in town. The boy Roy must move over for the boy Troy. It is an amazing success. As another Senator said, it is great that a younger generation can see what we witnessed when we were younger and the positivity and hope that came from Italia 90.

I want to discuss sport, in particular how we can improve the rate of swimming among adults and children. The swimming rate in Ireland for adults is about 72%, which is short of the European average. The National Swimming Strategy 2024-27 tells us that swimming as a sport and pastime has increased in popularity. We know the best time for anyone to learn to swim is when they are young and swimming lessons are crucial. Many groups dealing with those with physical and intellectual disabilities and older people know they can experience joy and relief from swimming in a pool. It is a life skill that is promoted.

However, people can only enjoy the benefits of swimming and all that is associated with it when they have access to pools. The national swimming strategy acknowledges that the existing stock of public pools around the country is insufficient, and this is certainly the case in Loughrea, County Galway, something Senator Curley has raised many times. Loughrea has a population of over 6,000 but has no publicly owned swimming pool and the nearest pool is 25 km away.

My area, the north west, has a wonderful elite Olympic swimmer, Mona McSharry. She and her team had to train in a 25 m pool, and is in competition against those who train in 50 m pools. People living in Sligo, Donegal and 21 other counties have no access to a 50 m pool. There are three in Dublin and one in Limerick, but it is high time a 50 m pool was constructed in the north west. The Minister of State with responsibility for sport has indicated that the large-scale sports infrastructure fund need to accessed to provide new publicly owned pools. I urge the Minister of State to consider the hard-working people on the ground who are campaigning for a 50 m pool in the north west and a 25 m pool in Loughrea.