Written answers
Wednesday, 16 September 2020
Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Covid-19 Pandemic Supports
Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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45. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will bring forward the distribution of funding for swimming pools announced as part of the July Stimulus Package to avoid permanent closure of distressed pools (details supplied). [24358/20]
Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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As part of the July Jobs Stimulus, I announced a special fund of €2.5 million to support the reopening of publicly accessible swimming pools in recognition of the particular challenges pool operators face in reopening to the public. This funding will be administered by Sport Ireland. A grant scheme is currently being drafted. Full details of the scheme and the application process will be announced shortly.
Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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46. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will consider seeking community suggestions and providing grants for cultural and social events that are not screen based in order to avoid the dangers of excessive screen time and encourage outdoor activities during the winter. [24359/20]
Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The Government has published the Roadmap for Resilience and Recovery. This new Roadmap sets out clearly the balance between public health, economic and social aspects of living with COVID-19 will operate in the short to medium term. It will to bring greater certainty so that society and business can move forward.
The current Level 2 of the Roadmap is based on a medium-term approach to managing risk and repairing the damage that COVID-19 has inflicted on society. At all times the priority will be to keep our schools open, while keeping people safe and protecting the resilience of our economy and communities.
There is new guidance for indoor and outdoor sports and training together with cultural events in theatres and other arts events. There is also a new focus on wellbeing. The new Roadmap is available at this link .
In addition, the Government Plan for Living with COVID-19, Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021, published yesterday, includes provisions in respect of community wellbeing that recognises safe engagement in and watching of our favourite sports and cultural activities, both personal and collective, plays a vital role in protecting our mental health and well-being. The Plan seeks to facilitate and preserve the significant cultural and sporting landmarks in Irish life, both at local and national level and commits to putting communities and counties at the centre of solutions for their own areas in terms of recovery. In that context, a refreshed Government Wellbeing/Together/Resilience campaign will be developed including a local campaign element delivered by local authorities to promote awareness of and participation in local programmes, initiatives and amenities.
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