Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1034. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the date on which the next Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme scheme will commence: if he has reviewed and amended the way in which the programme operates; if he has considered census data and projected urban expansion in his review; the amount funded in 2019 and to date in 2020 for swimming pools; if a schedule in which payments were granted to in 2019 and to date in 2020 will be provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2706/20]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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The Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme (LASPP) provides grant aid to local authorities towards the capital costs of new swimming pools or the refurbishment of existing pools.  To date 52 pools have been completed and three swimming pool projects (Lucan, Buncrana and Edenderry) remain in the LASPP.  €431,720 was drawn down under the LASPP subhead in 2019. This payment was to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council as the final payment for Loughlinstown Swimming Pool.  The amount available in the Subhead in 2020 is €4.7m. There were no new allocations from the Programme in 2019.

The Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) was launched in 2018. The aim of the fund is to provide Exchequer support for larger sports facility projects including swimming pools.  The Government has provided a capital allocation of at least €100m over the period 2018 to 2027 for the Fund.  On the 10th January Minister Ross and I announced provisional allocations totalling €77.4m for 25 projects under Stream 2 (construction) of the LSSIF Fund (LSSIF). On 13th January we announced further provisional allocations of €5m for a further 7 projects under Stream 1 (design) of the LSSIF. A number of swimming pool projects have been awarded funding and full details of all allocations are available on the Department's website.