Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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75. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the process by which Monaghan County Council can secure capital funding towards the development of a public swimming pool in Carrickmacross. [52397/25]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Capital support for new swimming pools, and the refurbishment of existing pools, continues to be provided by my Department through the Large-Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF), which to date has allocated €28.9 million to 9 swimming pool projects.

The LSSIF is aimed primarily at local authorities and National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs). The 2024 round of the LSSIF was also open to other bodies, such as sports clubs, voluntary organisations, Education and Training Boards (ETBs) and third level institutions to apply with applications to be submitted and prioritised by a local authority and/or an NGB. All local authorities and NGBs were asked to engage constructively with any such requests from outside bodies to ensure all potential projects, which best achieve the Fund’s objectives, would get due consideration. The LSSIF did not receive an application for funding for a swimming pool at Carrickmacross.

All project applications were subject to the Evaluation Procedures and Guidelines published on the Department’s website. The full marking scheme and assessment process for “LSSIF 2018 and LSSIF 2024” was approved by the then Ministers with allocations published on the Department’s website prior to the assessment work commencing. I would encourage any prospective applicants to review the scheme guidelines and key priorities included as part of the 2024 round of LSSIF as part of their preparatory process for a future LSSIF round. These documents are readily accessible on my Department's website. It is important to note that while these resources can serve as a helpful reference, any new guidelines and conditions associated with a future round of the programme may differ from those previously published.

With regard to a future round of the LSSIF, I am committed to ensuring sustained investment in sports facilities to meet our ambitious goals for sports participation nationwide. The Programme for Government commits to maintaining sports funding to get more people participating in all levels of sport, particularly targeting cohorts in society where there are lower than average participation levels including people with disabilities and older people.

Currently, the LSSIF is closed to applications and my focus is on ensuring project delivery under the first two rounds of the LSSIF, 2018 and 2024; this process will inform any decisions regarding the timing of a future round. The timing will also be considered in the context of the spending allocations within my Department under the National Development Plan as recently agreed by Government.