Vol. 1079 No. 1
135. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if his Department is aware that areas in rural Ireland, including Mountbellew in County Galway, continue to experience significant gaps in mobile phone coverage and effectively remain dead zones for cellular reception; if he will provide an update on measures being taken to address these coverage deficits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3651/26]
I want to bring to the Minister's attention the lack of mobile phone coverage in one of our busiest little towns in east Galway. I refer to Mountbellew, which hosts quite a lot of activity in terms of national schools, two secondary schools and a the new third level college, namely the Atlantic Technological University, ATU, campus. The one thing that is really dogging those who live and work in Mountbellew is the lack of mobile phone coverage. We need a plan in terms of making Mountbellew an attractive place to do business.
Mobile network operators are continuously enhancing and improving their networks across rural and urban areas. However, I am aware that the quality of network coverage is not uniform across the country. While the availability of mobile phone coverage is primarily a matter for mobile network operators, operating on a commercial basis in a liberalised market, they are regulated by the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg. In the first instance, where customers are not receiving the coverage, they should contact the customer care team of their mobile phone operator to make a complaint regarding poor coverage and follow their official complaint procedure. Complaints, if not resolved to the consumer's satisfaction, can then be escalated to ComReg.
It should be noted that ComReg completed a multi-band spectrum award, MBSA, in January 2023 to assign long-term rights of use in four spectrum bands to enable operators to provide improved services to meet increasing consumer demand for mobile services. This award represented a 46% increase in the harmonised spectrum assigned for the provision of wireless broadband services, including 4G and 5G, in Ireland and included significant coverage obligations for operators.
Those MBSA2 licence obligations place a key focus on delivering improved coverage to population centres, such as places where people work and live, rather than solely focusing on geographical coverage. They also focus on improving network coverage of the national primary road network. Those obligations will come into effect on an incremental basis three, five and seven years after the licences were first awarded in 2023. As such,it is expected that ComReg will assess operators’compliance with their three-year obligations under the licence this year.
Operators continue to add new capacity to their networks using their newly acquired radio spectrum. The timing of the improvements delivered by mobile operators are influenced in part by their ability to acquire and build new sites for increased coverage.
While the Department has no role in developing site-specific strategies for mobile coverage improvements, its digital connectivity strategy, which was published in 2022, sets ambitious targets for fixed and mobile connectivity. To assist consumers to choose the network provider that best meets their needs, ComReg continually updates and enhances its online national outdoor mobile coverage map at coveragemap.comreg.ie, which provides information on mobile network providers for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G mobile networks.
I thank the Minister for that comprehensive response. People have made calls to the relevant service providers. Unfortunately, that has not changed matters as they stand. My concern is that Mountbellew is a thriving town. It needs the interconnectivity to which I refer. What is happening is not just an inconvenience. Obviously, safety is an issue. Older people all require access to mobile phone coverage. Regrettably, people have to drive at least two or three miles outside the town of Mountbellew before they can use their mobile phones. That is fundamentally damning in this day and age, particularly in the context of a thriving village where many things are happening in the very busy co-operative mart, on the ATU campus and in the secondary and national schools. It behoves us to exert pressure wherever is required in order to make sure that Mountbellew is not left behind. At present, it is being left behind.
I will refer the Deputy's queries directly to ComReg and get a more comprehensive reply with regard to the specific geographical area. I do not know whether operators have, for instance, sought planning permission for masts or other infrastructure in the area or whether, if they have, these have been looked upon favourably by Galway County Council. Anecdotally, all of us in this House know of situations where mobile phone coverage is poor. This is always linked back to the lack of mobile phone infrastructure.
We have all been at meetings where people are present who do not want mobile phone masts but who also probably will contact our constituency offices to state they have poor mobile phone coverage. What will make an improvement is the roll-out of the national broadband plan because it will provide for improvement for indoor wireless coverage. That can be vastly improved. The roll-out of that plan by commercial operators is significantly improving across the country, including in County Galway.
Just by way of conclusion, Mountbellew has people, businesses, educational institutions and ambition but what it lacks is the urgent need for basic, reliable mobile phone coverage.
In a lot of cases, existing public infrastructure is used for the installation of mobile telephony infrastructure and other infrastructure, for example, by the Office of Public Works for Garda stations and by local authorities when it comes to water towers, reservoirs and other such sites. In its own way, the national broadband plan will improve the quality of internal calls because people will be diverted directly on to their Wi-Fi. They will also be able to make calls via the Internet, which will make things an awful lot easier. I will get a more comprehensive reply from ComReg to the specific issue the Deputy has raised, which relates to the town of Mountbellew.
137. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to confirm that the connection timeframes anticipated will be met on the NBI roll-out for deployment areas (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4128/26]
I want to raise with the Minister the roll-out of the national broadband plan in the area west of Macroom - the switches for Carriganimmy, Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh and Dunmanway. They cover large rural areas going from Clondrohid around Cill na Martra, Reananerree, on down towards Cappeen, Kilmichael, Johnstown and out around Togher, Shanacrane, and Doirín na Cathrach. It is a very large rural area and they are keen to get that roll-out advanced as soon as possible.
In December 2022, Ireland's digital connectivity strategy was published, which supports the ambition outlined in the national digital strategy and sets out a number of targets including that all households and businesses will be covered by a gigabit network not later than 2028.
The Programme for Government: Securing Ireland's Future, published in January 2025, sets a number of targets which include the completion of the installation of high-speed fibre broadband to 1.1 million people, including houses, farms and businesses nationwide, by 2026.
The NBP is the Government's initiative to deliver high-speed broadband services to all premises in Ireland. National Broadband Ireland is connecting approximately 4,500 homes every month.
In the Deputy's own county of Cork, NBI has passed 56,360 premises with a high-speed fibre broadband connection and over 58,750 are available to order or pre-order, with 18,996 premises now connected. A further almost 26,600 premises in Cork will be passed by NBI's high-speed fibre broadband by the end of the network deployment.
Further details on specific areas within County Cork can be monitored via the NBI's website. The National Broadband Ireland roll-out will include 4,190 premises in Dunmanway, 963 premises in Ballingeary and 3,975 premises in the Carriganimmy deployment area. Network build is in progress for all three of the deployment areas, and all premises in the Dunmanway deployment area will be made available to order or passed in the period July 2026 to September 2026, while the deployment areas of Ballingeary and Carriganimmy will be made available to order or passed in the period October 2026 to December 2026 - so by the end of the year.
The latest information on when high-speed broadband will become available can be found on NBI's website. This website is regularly updated and provides the expected timelines for the delivery and status of works in any area.
I fully appreciate that the roll-out of such a large plan has to start somewhere and has to end somewhere. The switches in the Carriganimmy, Ballingeary and Dunmanway area are towards the latter part of the plan. Residents in those areas could reasonably expect that things that would have been learned from the earlier deployments could be put in place to speed up the later deployments, such as in the area west of Macroom. Is that actually being done? Is it possible to get it done faster in the later deployments than in the earlier deployments? For example, people in Ballingeary will have seen the coils of pipes standing there probably for most of the year at this stage, as the deployment has been ongoing there. They have been very patient, perhaps too patient. They want to see more headway on it and to make sure that those timelines are being met. Could the Minister confirm that the deployments will meet the timelines? Is there a way of bringing them forward?
I can confirm that the work is ahead of time. As well as being ahead of schedule, the work is also ahead of budget. When Deputy Moynihan and I first came into the Dáil there was a time when broadband was the be all and end all and came up every second day. You could not stick your head outside the door but someone would take it off over broadband. Thankfully, we made an awful lot of progress.
As of 9 January, National Broadband Ireland reports that 62,996 km of cable has been installed. I do not know how far away the moon is from here, but I think it is a couple of times the distance from here to the moon. Some 181,757 poles have been installed. A total of 568,081 premises have been completed. A total of 567,132 premises have been submitted to Open Eir to make ready for works, and 519,013 premises have had Open Eir works completed. An enormous amount of work has been done.
Deputy Moynihan answered part of the question earlier: we had to start somewhere and we have to finish somewhere. The Deputy made specific points about Ballingeary and Carriganimmy. I will see if they can be truncated with existing works and I will come back to him on that.
I thank the Minister. He raises a very reasonable point about the way it was when we came in here, when it was a much bigger issue, but for the people in the Ballingeary, Carriganimmy and Dunmanway area, it has continued to be an issue. They were in the later part of the deployment and in fairness to them, they have been very patient. There is a level of frustration and people need to see that headway can now be made, and that possible lessons that would have been learned from earlier parts of the deployment can advance things more quickly in the later part of the deployment. Are they able to get ahead of schedule? Does the Minister have any more details on whether they will release all three switches at the same time or is there a possibility that an issue on any one of those switches could delay the other ones? Principally, people want reassurance and certainty that they are going to get that broadband roll-out over the coming months.
That is no bother. The most important assurances that I can give him is that the work is running 12 months ahead of schedule at the moment nationally, which is a massive achievement for the Government. When this was being done first, certain people in this House and certain commentators in the media said it was an awful waste of money. I do not know where those people are today, but I do not hear them crowing about it today or saying that it was a waste of money. The people in the Deputy's constituency, and in my constituency, which borders it, would say that is far from a waste of money. Those political commentators will have their own day out in the near future when this is completed.
I will find out whether the existing works can be truncated. I know from my own constituency that there is always going to be someone at the end of a road where the work stops. In fairness to the contractors working for National Broadband Ireland at the moment, they are all over the country. We pass them everywhere. We see so many of them that they are almost part of the fabric of the local area now. The statistics in relation to this are absolutely phenomenal: 63,000 km of cable laid. That is an absolutely massive feat of engineering. I will come back to the Deputy on the specifics.
138. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the initiatives his Department is undertaking to ensure that people with disabilities have equal opportunity to participate in sport. [3713/26]
Question No. 138 will be introduced by Deputy O'Meara.
Access to sport is not a luxury, it is a right. Participation in sport delivers profound physical and mental health benefits, builds confidence, reduces isolation and strengthens community connection for people of all ages and abilities. For people with disabilities, inclusive access to sport can be life-changing, yet too many still face practical and financial barriers to participation. What efforts is the Minister undertaking to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in sport?
I thought it was the next question, which is in the Deputy's name. I thank Deputy O'Meara very much for raising the matter this evening. We both know that inclusion and diversity in sport are key priorities for this Government. Despite recent progress, there is an enduring participation gap between persons with either a long-term illness or a disability and those without an illness or a disability.
The Irish Sports Monitor survey reports that this participation gap stands at 32%, which is quite large. It is clear that more work needs to be done to make this participation gap a thing of the past.
Increased funding of €1 million was allocated in budget 2025 to establish a new and dedicated disability in sport funding stream. Sport Ireland appointed a disability in sport lead in February of last year who is now collaborating with national governing bodies, local sports partnerships and other funded organisations to develop programmes to promote accessibility and participation for individuals with disabilities. To highlight this progress, the first-ever Sport Ireland disability in sport week took place in December 2025. The theme was Celebrating Ability or Ag Ceiliúradh Cumas. Sport Ireland worked with a wide range of stakeholders to promote progress made under the five pillars of its disability inclusion in sport policy: leadership, capacity, communication, change and access. In addition, Sport Ireland allocates €1.2 million at local level on behalf of the Government to fund a national network of sports inclusion disability officers aligned to each of the 29 local sports partnerships. Sport Ireland allocates €2.4 million in support of disability sport-focused national governing bodies to continue their work in this area. Capital support for the development of sports facilities and infrastructure is provided through my Department’s community sports facilities fund and the large-scale sport infrastructure fund. Both funds include specific criteria encouraging applications that improve accessibility and inclusion.
I acknowledge the positive work already under way. The sports capital programme has prioritised accessibility and universal design. Dormant accounts funding has supported disability-specific initiatives and training. Through local sports partnerships, Sport Ireland continues to play a key role in promoting inclusive support at community level. In my constituency, which comprises north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny, there is strong goodwill among clubs, volunteers and families to expand inclusive sporting opportunities. However, many local groups point to ongoing challenges with access to adaptive equipment, suitable facilities, trained coaches and volunteers, and the sustainability of inclusive programmes at grassroots level. The Minister pointed out the reason behind this question, the participation gap of over 30%. If we are working towards an Ireland for all, something our party has championed for many years, we have to continue to focus on this area within the Minister's Department.
The Deputy is right to focus on it. We have seen progress on the participation of those with a disability in sport but the gap has not narrowed because participation has also increased among the general adult and child populations, for which we can be thankful. The gap has remained, however. It is a particular focus for the Government. We are going to look to see how we can address that gap further because it is simply not acceptable that people who have a disability or illness are not being given the opportunity to participate in sport in the same way as others. We are particularly focused on that. Over the last ten years, we have made great progress on the gap between genders, between women and men. That has now almost closed. Sport Ireland appointed a lead for women in sport, which made a significant impact. We have now done the same for disabilities and I think that will also make an impact. We must all work with those clubs and sporting organisations that are doing really strong work to address this gap. It is very important that people have the opportunity to participate in sport in their local community, regardless of their ability or disability.
A lot of the local clubs I have spoken to are very interested in getting more supports, more funding and more training for their coaches. I think about cases where a child in a family is involved in sport, for example, a soccer club, and there is also a child in the family with some form of disability. If the parents in that family are involved in the club, they will obviously want both of their children, or however many children they have, to have the same chance to be full active participants to the best of their ability. Ballymackey FC, for which I played when under age, has a fantastic football for all initiative. It is absolutely brilliant. It is one of the strongest I have ever seen. It is a strong and growing club. The model of clubs like Ballymackey needs to be brought into other clubs. We need to get coaches in to get them trained to give every single child and adult, regardless of ability, the full opportunity to participate in sport.
I strongly support my colleague Deputy O'Meara on this. The Oireachtas committee on sport has considered this as a serious issue. When the Minister of State looks to the next round of sports capital funding, we urge him to include this as a factor in deciding on funding. One of our local soccer clubs, Courtown Hibs, runs very inclusive soccer training for children and young people who are neurodivergent or who have physical disabilities or special needs. On the first Saturday of every month, Gorey parkrun runs a particularly inclusive parkrun event, inviting people from Advocates for Autism, Special Olympics Ireland and other groups to take part. It is a model that has been followed by other parkrun organisers. In decisions being made on the next round of sports capital funding, those clubs and organisations that have an inclusive approach at their heart should be recognised.
It is absolutely necessary that we have this focus. That focus means resources to ensure all children can involve themselves in sport, particularly those who will have greater challenges. High Five is a programme run for children, particularly those with autism, in boxing clubs. My own local club, Clann Naofa, has such a programme ongoing. We have all seen the all-stars programmes run by the GAA. I am talking in particular about Dundalk Gaels, St. Bride's and Cooley Kickhams. It is absolutely fabulous to see.
I will also speak to the likes of the Louth Disability Cycling Club. People may be aware of this club and of Kevin O'Brien, who has great interaction with the club on behalf of Variety. Variety runs the recycle mobility programme, through which families can avail of adapted bikes. These are absolutely perfect to enable children to cycle who might not have believed that was possible. It is brilliant for children with mobility issues, autism or Down's syndrome. It is a really good community interaction. We would have hoped that things would have been further on in relation to our dealings with Louth County Council on having a permanent base. I thank those groups that have contacted Louth Disability Cycling Club about putting a real base in operation. An example has been established in south County Dublin in the last while and I hope we will get something similar in Louth. We need to see that kind of support at Government level and at local authority level to deliver.
I thank Deputies O'Meara, Byrne and Ó Murchú. The Deputies have put an emphasis on access and support for those with disabilities. The Government is very focused on making progress in this area. Budget 2025 was the first to provide specific disability funding to national governing bodies through Sport Ireland. That was important. We have seen the appointment of a Sport Ireland disability lead, which is really important. We have also seen funding for each of our 29 sports partnerships across the country to employ officers to work with sporting organisations in each partnership area to ensure opportunities are in place. As each of the Deputies has described, it is wonderful and inspiring to go to a club and see children or people of any age with a disability or illness participating in sport. It gives a wonderful sense of energy and opportunity. Those opportunities might not be as plentiful for them as they are for people who do not have a disability. We need to work together collectively to support more and more of those opportunities so that participation gap continues to close and we see more and more people get those opportunities in every community right across the country. I thank the Deputy for raising this here today.
139. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport when the next round of sports capital applications will open; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4116/26]
The sports capital grants are an extremely important funding stream for many of the communities I represent in north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny. During the lifetime of the previous Government, two different funds were announced for clubs in my constituency. It is nearly two years since sports capital funding was last announced and allocated. Clubs are now spending that funding and looking towards the future. When will the next round of sports capital funding open?
I thank Deputy O'Meara for raising this and for his advocacy on behalf of clubs in his constituency. As he will know, 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. The community sport facilities fund provides grants to assist in the development or refurbishment of sports facilities and the provision of sports equipment.
Its purpose is to develop high-quality, accessible, safe, well-designed and sustainable facilities in appropriate locations and to provide appropriate equipment to help maximise participation in sport and physical recreation.
Over 19,000 projects have benefited from the fund to the tune of over €1.4 billion since it was first established in 1998. Over €250 million was allocated in the most recent round with over 3,000 clubs benefiting from that, representing the largest ever investment in sports facilities. Over 40 different sports benefited from the fund as well.
The objective now in the plan - I know Deputy O’Meara’s key question is when the next one will be - is to be able to support those clubs that need support. We plan to have completed another round of the community sports facility fund by the end of this year, opening up in early summer with applications over the course of the summer and with the aim of having decisions made by the end of the year. I am also currently inviting sporting organisations to information and consultation evenings on the community sports facilities fund. We will be in Kilkenny. The Deputy tends to north-west Kilkenny very well, I know. I will be there on Thursday night. We will be seeing some clubs on Tuesday night in Wexford with the Deputy’s colleague, Deputy Malcolm Byrne. This is about helping to prepare clubs for the next round and also to gain their feedback on what is most important for them and where they are finding the pressures, so we can make sure that the next round is tailored to best support clubs at ground level in terms of the phenomenal work they do providing facilities in communities.
I thank the Minister of State. From my own experience of dealing with clubs during the last round, I trust that the bureaucratic nature of it is something that has been addressed ahead of the next round opening. I fully understand we are dealing with public moneys here and they have to be spent correctly, but we are also dealing with voluntary organisations that are doing incredible work, often in long-term development plans for their clubs. The level of paperwork and detail they have to go into sometimes can be a bit excessive. Examples that I would give come from the last round when clubs went to appeal. It was announced some time around March 2025 and appeals were decided by September. A lot of issues around appeals the last time had to do with the appendices to the grant applications being slightly wrong, just something being slightly inaccurate in them. The information provided by the club had already answered the question, but they had not filled in the exact piece of paperwork to answer the question. They might have sent in a title document or something without signing that piece of paper. It is very important that we not deal with that level of hurdle for voluntary clubs.
It is certainly my objective and that of the Minister, Deputy O’Donovan, in terms of the next round to make sure that we have it as amenable to clubs as possible and as practical as possible for them to be able to apply. Last time around with the appeals, almost all of the clubs that applied were supported. They were given the opportunity through the appeals process to have any issues corrected. The objective here has to be to work to make sure that clubs get the support they need, not to exclude them from it. That will be the objective again.
As we gather information and feedback from around the country in advance of the next round opening, we will be listening to what people are saying to make sure that it works. Obviously, it has to be a robust and effective application system. We want to make sure it is as practical as possible and also that clubs of all sizes do not feel intimidated by the process, and that they do apply. As I travel the country, I rarely come across a club anywhere that is not under pressure for space. That is a reflection of the success of the great work the volunteers and clubs are putting in. It also puts an onus on us to support them in developing those facilities to meet the demand they are creating.
I acknowledge the work of the officials in the Minister of State's Department. The officials I have dealt with in getting answers for clubs in north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny in recent years have been fantastic, even for previous payments that we are trying to get out to clubs now. I am delighted to see the Minister of State coming to the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. for a briefing. I also look forward to welcoming him to Tipperary - hopefully, north Tipperary - in the near future for a briefing with a lot of clubs that are in contact with me also.
I welcome the announcement that there will be a further round of the sports capital scheme later. I commend the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy O’Donovan, on their commitment to the development of not just clubs, but the critical role they play within our communities.
I would ask that, in the announcements, regard would be had to rapidly growing communities. As the Minister of State will appreciate, with rapidly growing communities, there is a demand for space. It is right that the Government’s top priority be the provision of housing, but we also need to provide sporting, cultural and community facilities. That is critical. I would also ask the Minister of State to consider what is often a problem for minority sports, that being, where they do not own their own lands or have access to long leases on land or premises. I would ask that, when the next round opens, there is some imaginative way to try to facilitate those minority sports.
We all know the importance of sports capital for sporting organisations across the State. We are talking about this opening at the end of summer 2026. I thought it would be quarter 1 but once we have a date, sports clubs can work around it.
I agree with what has been said. There needs to be added effort in facilitating local authorities to provide municipal pitches and sporting settings in some cases, which can allow for a whole pile of other sports.
On the large-scale sports infrastructure funding, what is the timeline for that? I think we were talking about it being opened every two years. I have spoken to the Minister of State before about Louth GAA and its belief that it is on the reserve list. I suppose it is a matter of the works that are being done at the minute, not very far from my own home, continuing. Drogheda United FC was also on a reserve list. I would like to think that Dundalk FC could be in at the time it would be open. Anyone who has been to Oriel Park knows it needs a lot of work done, as happy as we are to be back in the premiership.
I look forward to seeing Deputy O'Meara in Tipperary. He has been speaking to me about that already.
In response to Deputy Byrne, the objective will be to ensure we are looking to see where the need is greatest. We are gathering that information at the moment to make sure that, when the round is announced, it is focusing on the areas of greatest need. Having said that, I think we would all accept that the great work that is happening in clubs is putting pressure on space and capacity at all levels. We need to work to support all sports and all clubs, particularly focusing on those where the pressures are particularly acute.
In response to Deputy Ó Murchú on the large-scale infrastructure fund, we have funding under the national development plan to run another round over the course of this Government. We do not have a date yet for when that will be. The focus at the moment is on making sure in the two rounds we have run - the 2019 and 2024 rounds - that we work with those projects to make sure they are moving forward. We will monitor them to see if there is additional funding available within what has already been allocated to be ready to do more. The focus is very much on making them move on, and some of them need to get moving and get running with what they have been approved for.
They will be shovel-ready.
We are looking at another round then, certainly within the course of this Government, but it is to be decided.
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.
142. Deputy Edward Timmins asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport his plans to improve sports and recreation facilities in west Wicklow in particular a sports centre for Baltinglass; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4090/26]
West Wicklow has no major sports facility. It does not even have a swimming pool. A number of years ago, I successfully proposed a zoning in Baltinglass for a sports centre on council-owned land. A local sports group led by the basketball club have conducted a feasibility study, which demonstrates the need for such a centre in west Wicklow. Will the Minister of State support this project?
I thank the Deputy for raising this and for his advocacy on behalf of the development of facilities in west Wicklow. He will have heard my previous response in relation to the support available through the community sport facilities fund and the large scale sport infrastructure fund. On Baltinglass, I confirm that no application for funding was received under either the LSSIF or the CSFF for a sports centre there. We are opening up, as I said, the CSFF over the course of this year and, in particular, the LSSIF will be considered over the course of this Government.
As I mentioned in the previous response, we have a number of situations across the country like the situation the Deputy described in west Wicklow, where there is not the provision of swimming facilities to meet the needs of the local community. Following on from the completion of the Swim Ireland report, something we will consider is where those gaps are. We will also look to see what models can be put in place that would work and be viable in developing more facilities, could be run in a way that is cost-effective and provide the services needed in terms of swim facilities for local communities.
I will certainly work with the Deputy on his advocacy for developing facilities in west Wicklow and seeing what steps the Government can take to ensure that future funding meets the needs of communities where there is a particular gap, such as in his constituency.
Baltinglass is situated in south-west Wicklow and is 38 miles from here. It is the centre of a large hinterland. Currently, there is no sporting facility in the wider area. This project would also align with all the national policies that support balanced regional development, from the national planning framework to the Baltinglass town plan. The project is supported by Wicklow County Council and several local clubs and community groups in west Wicklow. Recent public and club-level consultations indicate significant demand for improved sports facilities within the wider area. The centre would be used by clubs from all over west Wicklow as well as nearby Carlow and south Kildare. To date, Wicklow has not received its fair share of large-scale sport infrastructure funding. That should change.
In the most recent round of the community sport facilities fund, we saw €7 million allocated to sporting projects across County Wicklow. I know this is a project the Deputy is clear is very much needed and is working closely with Wicklow County Council in relation to it. I am very open to continuing to work with him to see how we can ensure that as we open future rounds of the CSFF this year, and are looking towards the next LSSIF round, that applications, such as for the sports centre he is working on, can be considered as part of that. I acknowledge the work and advocacy the Deputy is doing to try to address a real need within the community. From the Government's point of view, it is our objective to try to support the further development of facilities. We will work with the Deputy on that.
The recreation, leisure and sports audit for Baltinglass municipal district was commissioned by Wicklow County Council to assess the current provision of recreational, leisure and sporting facilities across the area and to identify future needs. Some 86% of participants in the audit said that lack of facilities was the main barrier to partaking in sport and recreation. This would fill that gap. I also know that many clubs in the area have no home. This facility, which would be community based, would allow these clubs to have a home. This is especially true of the successful basketball club. It has members who come from all over west Wicklow and Kildare. West Wicklow has nothing in the way of large sports facilities. This project, which is being promoted by a group of dedicated people, looks to correct this and I urge the Minister of State to support it.
I recognise the work of the county council in working with the group. The future provision of sporting facilities is something we want to see being done on a collaborative basis as much as possible, particularly with local authorities trying to bring sporting clubs together to ensure there is synergy in the utilisation of existing land and the investment in facilities. I acknowledge the merits of the project the Deputy is putting forward and we will work with him in relation to upcoming funding rounds to ensure it can be considered.
143. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he is concerned by the lack of space for arts and culture in Dublin city centre; the efforts, if any, and his plans to support a space for arts and culture in the area in light of recent developments affecting The Complex venue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4121/26]
I thank the Deputy for raising this. The provision of local arts centres is a matter in the first instance for the relevant local authority. County and city development plans are drawn up by local authorities, including the policy objectives for development of the arts. Annual support, including programming and revenue supports, is provided to the arts and culture centres by local authorities and the Arts Council. My Department provides grants as a contribution towards maintaining and enhancing existing arts and culture infrastructure but does not provide funding for the purchase of buildings. The Complex had been leasing its building from a private landlord on a site ring-fenced for redevelopment. Officials from my Department met with the chair of The Complex and other members of the team in December 2024 and advised them that the Department was not in a position to fund the purchase of the property. Further communication in June 2025 reiterated that position. More recently, The Complex kept the Department updated of the evolving situation with its tenancy and I am aware that they were in close contact with Dublin City Council during this time. I regret that a solution could not be found with the developer to keep them in their current building, and I understand the council is now supporting them in sourcing alternative accommodation.
Separately, my Department is engaged with Dublin City Council on the potential transfer of part of the site of the Digital Hub in the Liberties area of Dublin to the local authority. I have requested that the city council consider whether any of the activities which are currently conducted at The Complex could in time be facilitated in the Digital Hub complex. The Department would be happy to work with the city council on any proposals, including consideration of whether any of the Department’s funding schemes could be of assistance in this regard. More broadly, the Department has allocated €3 million in funding to Space to Create, an initiative that aims to provide up to 60 artist workspaces in Dublin city, and these projects are currently being progressed in partnership with the city council. In addition, under the artist workspace scheme, €6 million capital funding is available for local authorities to increase the provision of artist workspaces across Ireland. In December 2025, I announced just under €1 million for five local authorities for the development of up to 22 workspaces, which brings the total awarded under this scheme to date at €1.2 million.
It is concerning that there is no strategy for the arts spaces infrastructure and that we do not have an arts capital fund such as the sports capital fund and at that scale to address what is happening around the country, not just in Dublin, where large and small arts venues are closing. Many of those arts centres are in buildings that are semi-derelict or in precarious rental agreements. When the money comes for development of apartments or the like they are the first to go. Given our reputation as a country that supports the arts, it is important to not just depend on local authorities but to go beyond that. The State has to step up to increase the funding available to venues such as The Complex, which hosted quite a lot of artists over the years. It was open for 18 years and had music, art and theatre under the one roof. It was an eclectic place to be in and I encourage the Minister to look again not just at The Complex but at the strategy around arts infrastructure.
We have been looking at a strategy with regard to arts infrastructure. We may be bring forward an arts capital scheme similar to the sports capital scheme we administer. To reiterate, we have offered Dublin City Council properties to look at that have wound up in the charge of the Department through the Digital Hub in the Liberties. I would say you could puck a ball from the Digital Hub to where The Complex was. I hope Dublin City Council will engage with it. These buildings were previously offered to the city council for other uses, and it refused them. The Office of Public Works has part of the buildings taken. We will try to do whatever we can. We do not acquire buildings. We do not buy buildings. The only agencies that buy buildings publicly for the State are either councils - the largest one is Dublin City Council, which is the best resourced and best financed in the country - or the Office of Public Works. I put that on the record of the House before. If Dublin City Council wants to look at properties we have wound up with, we will be happy to engage with it to see if alternative accommodation could be sourced.
I will not get into the finances of Dublin City Council and the problem that most of the funding that is meant to go to Dublin City Council sometimes does not end in Dublin City Council especially when you take into consideration the property tax that disappears out of Dublin. Having said that, I was not necessarily asking at this stage that the Department purchase The Complex. However, there is a need that a greater fund be available, not just for Dublin City Council, but also for Galway council. There are other areas around the country that have identified sites. Dublin City Council will reluctantly take on buildings. It has a good strategy, but most of the buildings that have been offered to it require a substantial amount of investment to bring them up to modern standards. That is one of the problems with Dublin City Council. I know well the buildings the Minister is talking about in the Digital Hub. I know the costs to bring them up to a modern standard. They have been used up to recently by the National College of Art and Design. It would satisfy one part of what The Complex is doing but not all of it and it is not the only venue that closed in this city in the past couple of years.
I will not get into the finances of Dublin City Council either. Suffice to say, and the Deputy knows this probably better than I do, that it is one of a few local authorities in the country that has consistently reduced their property tax over the number of years. If it can afford to do that, maybe it could afford to see. While there is money coming out of the council-----
It has not reduced it this year.
-----going to places like Leitrim and Sligo, I am sure Deputy Martin Kenny would be very upset with Deputy Ó Snodaigh suggesting the money should not be going to Sligo and Leitrim from Dublin City Council.
It is going from the Government.
I am not going to lecture a former member of Dublin City Council on the reduction of the rates in Dublin City Council-----
I was never a Dublin city councillor.
-----either commercial or housing. Suffice to say, I welcome the opportunity for Dublin City Council to engage with us on the property we do own. The Office of Public Works owns quite a considerable amount as well. It cannot just throw its hands up in the air and say this is all the Government's fault and problem. If we are coming forward with alternative accommodation the least it could do is engage with us. Yes, it will require money, but it is the wealthiest local authority in the country, and it should invest in the arts on that basis.
144. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the engagement his Department has had with Dublin local authorities regarding their experience of acquiring land for the development of new playing pitches; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4078/26]
The purpose of this question is to understand the level and nature of the engagement the Minister of State's Department has had with Dublin's local authorities with regard to their experience in acquiring land for new playing pitches. As he knows, access to pitches is a significant pressure point across Dublin, particularly in the faster-growing communities like Lucan, Clondalkin and Saggart, and the advent of new towns like Clonburris and Adamstown. Local authorities need that national support to secure much-needed playing facilities for those new populations.
I thank the Deputy for raising this. The programme for Government commits to supporting local authorities in the acquisition of new lands for parks and playing pitches to help build liveable communities. While neither of my Department's sports capital funding programmes - the community sport facilities fund, CSFF, and the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF - provide for the acquisition of land, I am supportive of any funding proposal to enable local authorities to acquire lands for sport and recreation purposes. I have not had engagement with local authorities directly on this issue, but I am conscious of the pressure on playing space availability in urban areas in particular.
Funding to local authorities to improve the amenity of communities is primarily a matter for the Department of housing and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and I intend to engage with him regarding the programme for Government commitment to ensure we can move it forward. Once lands are acquired for sporting purposes, applications for capital investment, including equipment, on those lands can be supported via the community sports facilities fund as well as the large-scale sports infrastructure fund.
Over a quarter of a billion euro was allocated to 3,048 community sports clubs and facilities in 2024 from the 2023 round of the CSFF, representing the largest ever investment in sports facilities in communities across Ireland. I have asked my Department to prepare for a further round of the CSFF in 2026.
In 2024, the second round of LSSIF received an unprecedented demand for funding. On 4 November 2024, grants totalling €173 million were awarded to 35 projects, and my current focus is on ensuring project delivery under the first two rounds of the LSSIF. No decisions have been taken regarding the next round of the LSSIF as of yet.
As I have said and the Minister of State has acknowledged, Dublin local authorities continue to highlight the ongoing challenges in acquiring land for active recreation and sports facilities, not least of all because of the housing pressures that are in the capital and the pressure on them to deliver housing, as well as the fact that they often cannot compete with the premium that is on land that is being bought for houses and that could be used to develop additional playing pitches.
Clubs and community groups have repeatedly raised the pressures with elected representatives and my clinic has often been attended by club representatives who point to the fact that there is a huge shortage of pitches. This is brought into focus when we see, for example, that less than 30% of the pitches that GAA clubs play on in Dublin are owned by the GAA clubs themselves, so they massively rely on the pitches the local authorities provide.
Dublin City Council last year stated that there is no capacity to accommodate new playing fields in existing public parks and open spaces. South Dublin County Council operates 166 pitches serving over 1,000 teams. The local authorities have rightly been told to focus on housing, but that means that they are not necessarily always able to compete with developers. Will there be an outcome from the engagement between the Minister of State's Department and the Department of housing on what this looks like as a concrete proposal for local authorities?
It is a real challenge. I have met lots of Dublin clubs over the last period of time. Access to land is a real difficulty for them in meeting the needs of their local communities. Certainly, in order to develop thriving communities, if we are developing new houses, we have to make sure we are developing the recreation and sporting facilities to be able to match that as we go forward. It is something on which I will be intensively engaging with the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, and his Department to make sure we have an integrated and co-ordinated approach as we develop and meet the real challenge we have in housing and, equally, ensuring that sporting facilities can be developed alongside that. I am certainly very happy to work with the Deputy and other Deputies across the city to try to make progress on that. I thank him for raising it here in the Chamber this evening.
I welcome the Minister of State's positive engagement on this matter. Pointing to an example in my own constituency of late, the Dublin City Services Sports and Social Club on the Coldcut Road became available for purchase. I think it is a classic example where, if such a fund existed, it could have supported the local authority in acquiring that asset and making it available for amenity in a part of Dublin that is underserved in terms of overall sports provision.
It is important when we talk about the acquisition of land for playing pitches that we also ensure we put the proper pavilions and dressing rooms on those pitches to ensure we maximise participation in sport by boys and girls and that the playing areas and lands acquired are of such dimensions that they facilitate as many disciplines as possible. One of the things we are noticing with the Clonburris strategic development zone, which was passed a number of years ago, is that it does not always facilitate a full-size GAA pitch on the multi-use playing areas that are being made available.
I look forward to the outcome of this engagement. I might take up the matter with the Minister of State in the coming months to see if we can progress this and give local authorities support to provide the pitches that are so desperately needed in the Dublin local authorities.
I thank Deputy Moynihan. I know this is something he has been raising with local authorities and advocating very strongly on. I have engaged with them on this issue as well. I look forward to working closely with the Deputy to see how we can make progress on this really pressing need.
140. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport when the sports capital programme will be open again for applications; the other funding streams available for sports facilities, including those in schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4101/26]
147. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to consider creating a school's stream within the sports capital grant, in which schools can individually apply for sports capital funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4117/26]
The programme for Government states that the Government will prioritise the development of physical education halls and sporting facilities, including yards and play areas, for schools in conjunction with the sports capital fund to deliver for both schools and communities. Will the Minister of State therefore consider creating a schools stream within the sports capital grant in which schools can individually - that is very important - apply for sports capital funding?
I propose to take Questions Nos. 140 and 147 together.
I thank Deputy O'Meara for raising this issue. The programme for Government commits, as the Deputy knows, to continued 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. The community sports facilities fund, CSFF, provides grants to assist in the development or refurbishment of sports facilities and the provision of sports equipment. This programme has operated annually since 1998. One of the objectives of the community sports facilities fund is to assist voluntary and community organisations, sport national governing bodies, NGBs, local authorities, education and training boards and schools to develop high-quality, accessible, safe, well-designed and sustainable facilities in appropriate locations.
Funding for sports facilities in schools is primarily a matter for the Department of Education and Youth. However, third level colleges, education and training boards and schools are eligible to apply to the community sports facilities fund jointly with sports clubs. Such applications must provide evidence of facility-sharing arrangements that will allow sports clubs to use the proposed facilities throughout the year when not in use by the school. There are no plans to change this approach given the existing demands on the community sports facilities fund. Sports clubs within schools and third level colleges are not entitled to apply for funding directly to the CSFF. A joint application with a school enables clubs in high-density areas to access high-quality facilities without needing to purchase and develop a new site and allows a club to provide facilities that are close to home for its members, reducing travel time, and help drive increased participation in sport.
It is something we certainly want to encourage in the upcoming round. There are a lot of synergies that can be gained whereby schools can be using these facilities during the day and clubs can be using them in the evening. It can work really well for everyone, especially for everyone in the community. It is something we will be looking to encourage collaboration on.
I would like to raise the case of Youghalarra National School in Newtown in relation to its summer works programme funding which came from the Department of education. It was a very useful grant and was for the installation of a 608 sq. m ball court. However, to have the best usage of that court and to mitigate against injuries, the board of management wish to have an AstroTurf surface installed on this. This would be very achievable with the funds allocated, but unfortunately the guidelines from the Department of education only allow for tarmac and concrete surfaces to be considered.
The reason I have asked this question is that this is a somewhat stand-alone school. For safety reasons, it needs the sports facilities within the school grounds. I am looking to see if we can get a stand-alone application for the school. Is it possible to engage with the Department of education? The Department of education is giving money to build the court but says its surface can only be tarmacadam or concrete or something along those lines when AstroTurf would work and would suit what the Minister of State's Department is trying to do. I think it is absolutely incredible and unbelievable that the school would not be able to do that.
There has been engagement between our two Departments and we will certainly continue to collaborate to see how best we can work together and ensure that, through good co-operation, we are serving local communities well. With the community sports facilities fund coming up now and to be completed by the end of this year, there is a real opportunity there for schools to assess the potential they have to develop their facilities, to work with local clubs in their area and to come forward with an application that can work for everyone. I will certainly continue to engage with the Minister for education, as will my Department, on how we can work well together in pursuit of that too.
The example I gave of Youghalarra National School is one that probably will not fit in to what the Minister of State is saying the next round of the sports capital fund will be, but if the Department of education is giving out grants to build something, surely when the Department of sport is trying to build facilities such as AstroTurf pitches, and we want to see AstroTurf pitches because they get so much usage and are so much safer and cleaner for schools in particular, that the Minister of State would be able to engage with the Minister for education to see if the summer works programme can be changed so that, although the funding is not coming from the Minister of State's Department, it is very much sport-related. My reason for raising this question was to try and fit it in for sports capital funding, but perhaps we could get common sense to prevail here and the Department of sport would advise that section within the Department of education, as the expertise exists within the Minister of State's Department.
I speak in strong support of Deputy O'Meara's question in this regard. I have regularly asked the Department of education what facilities are specifically going to be provided for sport, particularly for new builds, but also in terms of existing funding streams that can be made available to schools to get sports funding. I look at somewhere like Riverchapel National School in County Wexford.
Incidentally, it is the primary school of the Minister of State's colleague and mine, the Minister, Deputy Lawless. It has over 300 pupils and it has a hard tarmac and flawed play area at the back. It is not a real sporting facility. The Minister of State needs to tell the Department of education that there has to be a more integrated approach to the provision of sport in education at primary and second levels.
I thank Deputies O'Meara and Byrne. They make eminent sense in relation to the potential at school level to serve the community as well as serving the school population during school times. I will be engaging with the Minister for education and her Department to see how we can better pursue that objective. I thank the Deputies for raising the matter on the floor of the Dáil today.
