Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail)
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As the Minister probably knows, Fingal is the fastest growing county in Ireland and north Fingal is the fastest growing area within it. North Fingal includes Balbriggan, Balrothery, Skerries, Naul, Rush, Lusk, Garristown, Oldtown, Donabate and Portrane. The area has a rapidly expanding population and substantial future growth is planned. To give an idea of the size of the towns involved, Balbriggan has a population of approximately 26,000 and Rush currently has a population of approximately 10,000. As I have said, there are also future plans for the area and, as I have also outlined, the demographic is young.

There is no swimming pool in the north Fingal area. The children of north Fingal cannot readily avail of swimming lessons, which are now seen as almost a standard part of the school curriculum. They cannot avail of something as basic as swimming lessons without having to travel long distances and incur the additional costs of that travel. Children with autism and ADHD particularly benefit from water-based therapies but unfortunately the distances such children would have to travel from north Fingal in order to avail of such therapies in a swimming pool would negate any benefit they might derive from them. Older people can also derive great health and social benefits from access to a swimming pool within their community.

Plans for a swimming pool for north Fingal stretch back to the year 2000 when a swimming pool for Skerries was planned through Fingal County Council, which applied for the local authority swimming pool programme administered through the Minister's Department. When these plans fell through Fingal County Council put forward a plan for construction of a swimming pool in conjunction with Balbriggan Rugby Football Club in Balrothery. These plans ultimately fell through and in January 2016 Fingal County Council voluntarily withdrew from the local authority swimming pool programme. I raised the need for a swimming pool in the area by way of Commencement matter on 9 May 2017. I was told by the Minister of State, Deputy Helen McEntee, who attended the Chamber on that date that it was now open to Fingal County Council to apply for a sports grant which is capped at €500,000 due to its withdrawal from the local authority swimming pool programme.This is significantly less than the €3.8 million per project which was available under the previous local authority swimming pool programme. I was told on that occasion that the future funding of swimming pools was being examined by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport as part of a review of national sports policy which was to have a particular focus on how sporting facilities are to be funded into the future. I was advised that the Department was in the process of making a submission under the mid-term capital review to seek additional funding for large-scale sports infrastructure like swimming pools. I was told that if this funding was received, it would allow the Department to give further consideration to new projects like swimming pools, thereby allowing county councils to submit plans for such projects.

I would like to know what the outcome of the review of national sports policy was, particularly insofar as it related to the construction of swimming pools. I would like to know whether the Department has received additional funding under the mid-term capital review plan. If so, has a new programme been established? I emphasise the urgent need for a swimming pool in the northern part of Fingal, especially in light of the demographics of the area and the lack of facilities to match the housing that has been built in the area in recent years and the housing that is planned for the future. We should not pile houses into an area without providing adequate facilities for the community. The people of Balbriggan recently came together to form a committee to press for the development of a swimming pool. This is an expression of the level of public support and demand for a swimming pool in north Fingal. I would appreciate it if the Minister could address the specific points I have raised with regard to this issue.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank Senator Clifford-Lee for raising this topic, with which I have a great deal of sympathy. Swimming pools are an essential part of a child's education and upbringing. It would be every Minister's ambition to have a swimming pool in every populated area. That is not quite possible, but we are doing our very best to achieve it.

The local authority swimming pool programme, which is administered by my Department, provides grant aid towards the capital costs of new public swimming pools or the refurbishment of existing pools. The programme provides for maximum grant aid of €3.8 million per project. The four principal stages which must be undertaken by a local authority in developing a swimming pool project are: preliminary report stage, including feasibility study; contract document stage; tender stage; and construction stage.

Regarding the provision of a swimming pool in north Fingal, a proposal for a new pool in Skerries, County Dublin, was originally included in the 2000 round of the local authority swimming pool programme. The Department approved the preliminary report in January 2001. As no contract documents or tender reports were ever received for Skerries, no grant was approved for that project. The Skerries project was planned as a public private partnership. In March 2009, the Department received a letter from Fingal County Council stating that this proposal was terminated due to difficulties with the residential element of the proposed scheme and that the new priority for Fingal County Council was to locate a pool in Balbriggan. In April 2009, Fingal County Council forwarded a preliminary report for the proposed Balbriggan pool. As the Senator has outlined, the proposal was for Balbriggan Rugby Football Club, in conjunction with a private operator, to build a swimming pool on the club's grounds at Balrothery. It was proposed that the pool would be managed by the swimming pool operator, which would put finance in place for the development.

The OPW approved the preliminary report for the Balbriggan proposal in May 2009, subject to a minor modification and subject to the council and the Department being satisfied that the tender process would be transparent and fair. The council was asked to consider issues of procurement and state aid to a private operator and to ensure all relevant EU directives would be adhered to. I understand that due to difficulties in adhering to these requirements, no further progress was made with the project at the Balbriggan site.

Accordingly, my Department wrote to Fingal County Council in January 2016 to raise concerns about the delay and to ask the council to consider withdrawing this project from the local authority swimming pool programme. The letter stated that if Fingal County Council agreed to the withdrawal of Balbriggan swimming pool from the local authority swimming pool programme, it may be possible for Fingal County Council and Balbriggan Rugby Football Club to receive a sports capital programme allocation instead. Fingal County Council agreed to the voluntary withdrawal of the Balbriggan project from the local authority swimming pool programme and the Department formally notified the council of its removal in April 2016.Fingal County Council subsequently applied for a special sports capital programme allocation for Balbriggan RFC. The application must meet all of the usual terms and conditions of the programme and funding is capped at €500,000. I understand the application is under ongoing consideration in my Department, with Balbriggan RFC recently having received approval to go to tender.

With regard to swimming pools, the projects remaining in the current local authority swimming pool programme are those in Castlebar, Buncrana, Edenderry and Lucan, all of which are at various stages. The priority in 2018 is to progress these projects.

With regard to the future funding of swimming pools, the issue the Senator raises, the national development plan contains a commitment to establish a new "Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund", with at least €100 million available in the coming years. My officials are in the process of drafting the terms and conditions of the new fund and engaging with relevant stakeholders in that regard. An announcement on when applications will be accepted will be made once the terms and conditions have been finalised. It will be open to all local authorities, including Fingal County Council, to submit an application for any suitable project under the terms that will apply. In addition, the upcoming national sports policy which I expect to be considered by the Government in the coming weeks, with a view to its publication shortly thereafter, will include a specific focus on how the Government should fund sports facilities, including swimming pools, in the years ahead.

I hope this clarifies the current position. I thank the Senator for raising the issue.

Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his response which is practically identical to the one I received on the same issue this time last year. The only difference is that whereas the Minister indicated that the priority in 2018 would be to progress the projects mentioned, I was informed last year that the priority in 2017 was to progress them. It appears that the project has not advanced in the meantime.

The Minister referred to the commitment to establish a large-scale sports infrastructure fund and stated €100 million would be available in the coming years. Is this a reference to the additional funding which he last year indicated would be allocated to his Department in the mid-term capital review? If so, has this funding been received or does the Minister hope to receive it in the future?

The Minister stated the terms and conditions for the fund were being finalised. Will they be finalised by the end of this month or perhaps by the end of the year? I would appreciate it if the Minister provided a timeframe.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thought I had answered the Senator's question. It is somewhat unfair to state the fund has not progressed. It has because we have the results of the mid-term capital review which we did not have this time last year. In addition, as part of the Department's submission in the mid-term review of the capital plan, additional funding of €100 million has been allocated for a large-scale sports infrastructure fund. This will allow consideration to be given to new swimming pool projects. It will be open to all local authorities, including Fingal County Council, to submit an application under the terms that will apply. The relevant division of the Department is in the process of drafting the terms and conditions for the new large-scale sports infrastructure fund and engaging with the relevant stakeholders in that regard. I expect applications to be ready in the coming months and allocations to be made as soon as possible thereafter.

Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail)
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Has the Department received an allocation of €100 million for the fund?

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The Senator may not make a further contribution.

Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail)
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In that case, I will assume that the allocation has been received.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I am not sure what the Senator can or cannot assume.