David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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92. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will report on the work of the National Swimming Strategy Working Group; the number of times that the group has met since its establishment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8582/23]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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105. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when she expects analysis of the public consultation responses to the National Swimming Strategy to be concluded and the Strategy finalised; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8581/23]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 92 and 105 together.

Both the National Sports Policy 2018 -2027 and the Sports Action Plan 2021-2023commit to the development and implementation of a National Swimming Strategy. The Strategy will be the first of its kind in Ireland and will be based on a vision to ‘provide everyone in Ireland with an opportunity to swim’. It will be suited to all ages and abilities and seek to recognise swimming as a life skill with lifelong participation potential.

The working group tasked with the detailed work of preparing the strategy is chaired by my Department and comprises representatives from relevant National Governing Bodies for sport and stakeholders, specifically Swim Ireland, Sport Ireland, CARA, Ireland Active and the Local Authorities. The Group has met on six occasions to date and a further meeting is scheduled for next month.

The Public Consultation process for the Strategy ran from the 9 September to 7 October 2022. Members of the public were invited to take part in the consultation by completing a short questionnaire online and submissions could also be submitted to a dedicated email account. An extensive consultation across relevant stakeholders operated in parallel with this process. Work on the analysis of the very large number of responses received is now substantially complete and details on the consultation process and the feedback received will form part of the overall Strategy document.

Whilst it is difficult to be precise about the exact timeframe for the delivery of the Strategy, I hope to be in a position to publish the Strategy by the middle of 2023.