Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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211. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to finalise the completion of a project (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44362/17]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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In relation to the proposed swimming pool at the Campus, in January 2016 my Department contacted local authorities and sought expressions of interest in a limited round of swimming pool allocations for the construction of new swimming pools and/or the refurbishment of existing pools. Of the expressions of interest received, only three were for new pools, two of which were valid and both in Dublin, one in Lucan and the other in Ballyogan. Following consideration of the expressions of interest, and the two valid proposals for new pools, it was decided to include the proposal from South Dublin County Council (SDCC) for a new swimming pool in Lucan in the LASPP.

The priority in 2018 will be on progressing the four projects already in the programme.

In relation to the future funding of swimming pools, my Department is currently finalising a review of national sports policy. This includes a specific focus on how Government should fund sports facilities including swimming pools in the years ahead. It is expected that the new sports policy will be published before the end of this year.

As regards the other sports facilities at the Campus, I can confirm that an application has been submitted under the 2017 Sports Capital Programme. The 2017 round of the Sports Capital Programme, which closed for applications on the 24th February, received a record number of 2,320 applications seeking €155 million in grants. When the programme was launched, it was envisaged that €30m would be available which would have made the allocation of grants particularly challenging. Following the conclusion of the budget discussions and in order to allow as many worthwhile projects as possible to receive some funding, I am pleased that significant extra resources have been secured to allocate under this round. The assessment of all the 2,320 applications is now nearing completion and I expect to be in a position to announce full details of the allocations in the coming weeks.