Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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488. To ask the Minister for Culture, Culture, Communications and Sport the funding scheme from which €2 million has been awarded for the detailed design of Buncrana Leisure Centre; if his Department will accept funding applications for design of swimming pool projects in other areas where demand exists such as Loughrea; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66185/25]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Grants totalling €173 million, benefiting 35 individual projects, were allocated under the second round of the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) in November 2024. In parallel, funding towards design costs was allocated to the leisure centre project in Buncrana and a swimming pool in Edenderry. This was done as there were outstanding Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme grants which were originally allocated toward refurbishment of existing pools in those locations and had not been drawn down. This funding will be paid from the LSSIF subhead.

I met with a representative group from Loughrea earlier this month regarding a proposed swimming pool. Investment in such a project is matter for the local authority and Galway County Council will be eligible to apply for funding in this context when the next LSSIF round opens. My current focus is on ensuring project delivery under the first two rounds of the LSSIF and this process will inform any decisions regarding the timing of a future round.

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 fifty 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.

Swim Ireland, the National Governing Body for swimming, is currently undertaking an analysis of the type and nature of swimming pool ownership in the country, with a particular focus on identifying gaps in provision. Swim Ireland will publish a report on its analysis in the coming period, and this report will be central to the future development of swimming pool facilities in Ireland.