Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Helen McEntee, to the House. As evidenced from the wording of this commencement matter, the town of Balbriggan has no swimming pool. According to the latest census data, Balbriggan town and its environs has a population of approximately 26,000 and is growing rapidly. I am sure the next census will show a huge increase in that population. Also, it is a very young population.

In 2006, An Bord Pleanála approved a plan for the public swimming pool to be built on a site located at Balbriggan Rugby Club. In 2014, this was put out to tender but there has been no progress since. I hope the Minister of State will be able to provide me with an update on the results of the tender process in 2014. For a population of this size not to have access to a swimming pool in the town is not good enough. Swimming lessons are seen as a core part of the primary and second school curriculum. Children living in Balbriggan cannot easily access swimming lessons, which is a real shame. Many schools have to travel long distances to access a swimming pool and swimming lessons, which has a knock-on effect on parents in terms of the cost of providing buses and so on. It is also taking time out of the school day which teachers could be using to teach other core parts of the curriculum.

I have spoken with many local parents who have children with learning difficulties, ADHD and autism, who would benefit greatly from aqua-therapies, but the benefit they would receive would be outweighed by the travel involved in getting to swimming pools located a far distance from Balbriggan and so there is no point doing it. In my opinion, it is an absolute disgrace that the children of Balbriggan with special needs cannot access these very beneficial therapies. Older people can also benefit from aqua therapy and aqua aerobics but these therapies need to be provided within their community.

I ask that the Minister of State outline what plans are in place and, if any are in place, if they can be fast-tracked.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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.

Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, in the context of the aforementioned review of the national sports policy, to prioritise large population centres such as Balbriggan. The population is increasing in both Balbriggan and surrounding areas. Population growth should be written into any new policy. I look forward to making a submission on behalf of Fingal as part of the national review.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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In that context, the Senator should note that the consultation process was launched last year by the Minister, Deputy Shane Ross, and the Minister of State, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, and that the Department has already received 53 submissions from a variety of stakeholders, including non-governmental bodies, local sports partnerships, LSPs, Departments, private individuals and the corporate sector. I assume that Members or other representatives from the local area have also made submissions. While the submissions received deal with a wide range of topics, the issues of increasing participation levels, the strategic allocation of facilities, cross-sectoral co-operation and funding for sports are a particular focus across the board.The submissions touched on many of the issues raised by the Senator. The policy framework will set out the approach the Government will use in the future. It will look at the economy, education, health, tourism and other areas touched on by the Senator. Perhaps I might get the Minister to update her on where we are with the review and provide her with all possible information.