2026-01-20

141. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to outline his investment in public swimming pools; the new pools that will be opened in 2026 and 2027; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3342/26]

There are two capital funding programmes for sport, namely, the community sports facilities fund, CSFF, and the large scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. In total, over €1.5 million was allocated to swimming under the 2023 community sports facilities fund round as part of an overall CSFF investment of over €3.7 million in the last ten years. Swimming may also have benefited from allocations to multisport projects under the community sports facilities fund. Applications for the refurbishment of pools, installation of pop-up pools, improvements to the energy efficiencies of pools as well as improvements to the accessibility of pools can be made under the fund. In line with previous rounds of the fund, a review of the current funding round is being undertaken. Preparations are under way for a further round of the community sports facilities fund this year. It is anticipated the next round will particularly target areas and sports that have been underinvested in over the years. The LSSIF supports the development of new swimming pools as well as the refurbishment of existing pools. To date, that fund has allocated €297 million to projects, which includes allocations of €41.4 million to 12 swimming pool projects. Details of these allocations are available on the Department's website. In addition, the Department has also awarded design funding in 2024 to three swimming pools at Buncrana, Mullingar and Edenderry. It is anticipated that the design phase for those pools will be concluded by 2027. Regarding a future round of the LSSIF, as I said to Deputy Ó Murchú, our current focus is on ensuring project delivery for the first two rounds of the fund. This process will inform any decisions regarding the timing of a future round. No decisions have been made yet regarding the next round of the LSSIF.

I thank the Minister of State for that response. I was prompted to submit this question, in the first instance, by the Swimming Pool Gap Analysis Report, which the Minister of State will be familiar with, published in December and commissioned by Swim Ireland and, second, as a parent trying to access swimming lessons for my kids. I recognise the picture on the front of this report. It is of Kells Swimming Club, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year. I went to school about 20 yards away from it and had access that very many children across Ireland do not have when it comes to swimming pools. One of the key findings of the report relates to access to a swimming pool. In Ireland, we have just one public pool per 81,000 people compared with Scotland, for example, which has one per 14,000. What will the Minister of State do to address that lack of access?

I thank the Deputy for raising the gap analysis report. On what we are going to do about it, the first thing we did was to fund that report. We funded Swim Ireland to carry it out because we want to assess what the situation is across the country, what the level of service provision is, what the current infrastructure is like, where the gaps are most acute and what issues there are with existing infrastructure. The report outlines the heavy reliance on private pool provision, particularly hotel pools. Our officials are considering that report now. We will look at it in detail. It will also inform future funding decisions. There is a need for us to invest more in swimming pools. We have not seen as many projects as we would like to see come through community sport facilities fund applications. We will now consider where the gaps are, particularly with local authorities and, working with Swim Ireland, see what models work well in meeting provision in the most cost-effective way. We will then assess how we can best try to meet some of the gaps that report, which we funded, identified.

I mentioned my experience as a child going to school in Kells. We had pretty unique access to Kells Swimming Pool, which is a public swimming pool. There are a number of important findings in the report. I am glad the Department commissioned it. I hope it pays attention to those findings and acts on them. The important piece is access. I talk about Kells, and we think of areas in Leinster, Connacht and south Munster where it is very stark. The issue with hotel pools is they mask a greater problem. I talked about my experience, which is a very wide experience in terms of access to lessons for kids. In County Meath, 100% of the swimming pools have a waiting list. It is a very significant issue. I will ask about something in my supplementary question that the Minister of State touched on. There is a key finding in the report in relation to the dependence on the private sector and hotels, but also local authorities essentially stepping away from this work and passing it over to the private sector. As a result of that, there is closure of swimming pools or pools being available on a reduced hours basis, although not to swimming clubs. Swim Ireland referenced an alternative model. Is that something the Minister of State will consider as a potential to increase access?

We will certainly look at all options. We need local authorities to step up and get into this space. It has been a challenging space. It has been challenging for pools to be run profitably. That has seen local authorities shy away and has led to some of the gaps we have. We need to see them step up. Certainly, the Department, working with Swim Ireland and Sport Ireland, will look to try to ensure that is the case as we go forward. That report is important in scoping out the current situation and looking to see what the challenges are around current provision. It is also about looking at what new models might work best and could work most profitably in a way that ensures there is provision and service that is even in communities. It is to ensure all kids have access, as the Deputy was fortunate enough to have in Kells, which is not the case everywhere. That should be addressed. We are very much intent on stepping forward from that report, looking at what the lessons are from it and seeing how we can address them.