Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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41. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the steps Galway County Council should take in order to secure funding for a swimming pool in Loughrea, County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52192/25]

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 has allocated €28.9 million to 9 swimming pool projects to date.

Under the second round of the LSSIF, grants totalling €173 million, benefiting 35 individual projects, were announced on 4 November 2024. With this announcement, the cumulative investment from the LSSIF since 2020 now reaches €297 million.

It is noted that an application was not received for Loughrea swimming pool under this latest round of LSSIF. The deadline for submitting applications has passed and no further applications are being received at this time.

Ireland’s first National Swimming Strategy was published in August 2024 and it sets out a vision to provide everyone in our country with an opportunity to swim. It includes an Action Plan containing over 50 actions across five thematic strands, focusing on providing improved facilities, increasing access for people with disabilities, improving the culture of inclusion, better coaching supports, increasing safety awareness and providing a pathway that allows for the nurturing and development of potential high performers.

Responsibility for the delivery of the Strategy’s Action Plan is shared across Government Departments, State Agencies and other key stakeholders, including local authorities. Sport Ireland has established an oversight group of key stakeholders to give leadership, policy direction, prioritisation and mobilisation of resources to support, monitor and measure the Strategy’s implementation.

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.

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