Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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389. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht further to Parliamentary Question No. 59 of 29 September 2022, if her Department's review of the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund has been completed; if a report of the review will be completed; if she intends to reopen the fund to provide for the development of public swimming pools in towns such as Carrickmacross; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13265/23]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Previously, Government support for new swimming pools or the refurbishment of existing pools was provided through the Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme (LASPP). A total of 52 pools have been completed under the LASPP and three swimming pool projects (Lucan, Buncrana and Edenderry) remain in the programme with the Lucan project currently under construction.

My Department's capital support for any new swimming pools is now being provided through the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). The first call for proposals under the LSSIF closed in 2019 with applications confined to local authorities and National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of Sport. All applications were assessed in accordance with the published Evaluation Procedures and Guidelines and the first allocations were announced in January 2020. Thus far, approximately €86.4 million has been awarded to 33 different proposals. These initial allocations include funding for 8 swimming pool projects and the priority in the short term is to advance all LSSIF projects, including the swimming pools, to construction stage.

It should be noted that the first LSSIF allocations were announced just prior to the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic obviously gave rise to significant financial challenges for all grantees with many of them having to reprioritise their own expenditure plans due to reductions in their income streams. In more recent times, the high level of construction inflation has also presented considerable challenges for grantees. In view of these issues, it was considered timely to review progress on all projects allocated grants and meetings with all grantees have taken place. It is encouraging that, based on these discussions with grantees, 22 of the 33 projects should be in a position to draw down funding this year. Accordingly, I expect to see significant progress on many of the LSSIF projects in the short term.

In the medium term, I will continue to explore all options to assist those LSSIF projects that have not progressed to date. In this regard, I am continuing to engage with my Government colleagues and my officials have also been liaising with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in relation to future funding for the LSSIF.

Dealing specifically with new swimming pool projects, work has commenced on the development of the first National Swimming Strategy based on a vision to ‘provide everyone in Ireland with an opportunity to swim’. The Working Group tasked with the detailed work of preparing the strategy is chaired by my Department and comprises representatives from relevant NGBs and stakeholders. An extensive consultation process has been undertaken across both stakeholders and the public and work is ongoing on the analysis of the very large number of responses received to ensure that the Strategy encompasses all of the issues raised to the greatest extent possible. It is hoped to finalise the new Strategy shortly and it will further guide future swimming pool investment policy.