Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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17. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for an update on the National Swimming Strategy 2024-2027; the supports that will be provided under this strategy to increase access and participation across the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36877/24]

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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24. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the capital funding that is available for the development of swimming pools; if funding is available for the running costs of swimming pools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36486/24]

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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34. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the steps being undertaken by her Department to ensure that children across the country have an opportunity to learn to swim. [36753/24]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 17, 24 and 34 together.

The National Sports Policy 2018-2027 contains a specific commitment to develop a National Swimming Strategy. Last month, I was proud to launch Ireland’s first-ever National Swimming Strategy, which sets out a vision to provide everyone in our country with an opportunity to swim.

The public consultation process that informed the Strategy’s development received over 5,800 submissions, which is testament to the popularity of the sport, and the critical role it can play when it comes to our physical health and mental wellbeing.

The Strategy covers both indoor and outdoor swimming and takes account of all ages and abilities. It includes an Action Plan containing over 50 actions across five thematic strands.

The Action Plan focuses on providing improved facilities, better coaching supports, increased safety awareness and a pathway that allows for the nurturing and development of potential high performers. Implementation of the Strategy will also improve the culture of inclusion in swimming and increase access for people with disabilities.

In support of one of the Strategy’s actions, additional funding of up to €500,000 is being allocated by the Government, through Sport Ireland, to support Swim Ireland in hiring swimming activators to work within local authority areas and provide enhanced opportunities to swim.

Defined Key Performance Indicators are outlined in the Strategy and will be used to monitor the implementation of the Action Plan. These include targets for increasing participation rates, the number of swimming teachers and coaches and the number of swimming related applications under future Sports Capital Funding Programmes.

Responsibility for the delivery of the Strategy’s Action Plan is shared across Government Departments, State Agencies and other key stakeholders.

Swimming plays a critical role when it comes to the physical health and mental wellbeing of our children. It the third most popular sport for children, with over 500,000 children participating in swimming lessons every year.

One of National Swimming Strategy’s five thematic strands, is a focus on Education, Lessons and Coaching . Evidence confirms that early childhood is the optimal time to learn how to swim, which in turn can increase the levels of lifelong participation.

The Strategy aims to provide additional opportunities for young people to access lessons, to ensure optimal use of pool times for lessons and coaching, to address challenges in recruiting and retaining swimming instructors and to further embed the provision of aquatics and water safety as components of school curriculums.

A key focus of the National Sports Policy 2018-2027 is to increase the number of children regularly playing sport, to ensure that all our children enjoy their sporting experiences and have the physical literacy to underpin their participation in sport and physical activity throughout their lives.

The Department is currently developing a new Sports Action Plan which will cover the remaining four years of the National Sports Policy. This plan, which I intend to publish in the coming weeks, will include a strong focus on a number of key areas such as early childhood participation supports as well as the further development of the contribution of the educational sector to maximising children’s physical activity and sports participation levels.

Capital funding for swimming pools was previously provided through the Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme (LASPP). 52 pools have been completed under this programme and three swimming pool projects (Lucan, Buncrana and Edenderry) remain in the LASPP. The Lucan swimming pool project is currently being completed.

Under the 2023 Sports Capital and Equipment Programme, applications for funding in respect of improvements to swimming pools were accepted. In addition, the Sports Energy Support Scheme was extended in 2023 to support publicly accessible swimming pools with increased energy costs.

Capital support for new swimming pools is currently being provided through the Department’s Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). The first LSSIF allocations were announced in January 2020 and thus far approximately €124 million has been awarded to 33 different proposals including 8 swimming pool related projects.

While the LSSIF 2018 allocations provided funding to a variety of sports, swimming was recognised as a sport that enjoys participation at all ages and levels of ability. In this regard, almost 25% of all approved projects have a swimming pool element representing one of the highest level of success for any sport.

In April this year, Minister Martin and I announced funding of up to €120 million under the new 2024 round of the LSSIF which was open for applications until 1 July 2024. Assessment of applications, for funding of between €600,000 and €30 million, will take into account population size, sustainability and ensuring that similar access is provided to accommodate access by men and women to LSSIF-funded facilities. The initial assessment of LSSIF applications is now underway and a number of swimming pool projects have been submitted for consideration as part of this competitive process.

The National Swimming Strategy public consultation process suggested that existing swimming pool stock is insufficient and an analysis of current provision is proposed to identify gaps. Funding programmes, such as LSSIF and SCEP, will play a key role in the development of swimming pool facilities across the country in the coming years.

The National Swimming Strategy reflects a truly collaborative strategic vision that will strengthen and support the sustainable growth and development of swimming in Ireland for years to come.