Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 October 2024
212. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to indicate the current progress in regard to a swimming pool for Maynooth, County Kildare, which has a very wide catchment area and population, in addition to a transient population of 20,000 students; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43880/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Sports Policy, which was published in 2018, provided for the establishment of a Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). The aim of the LSSIF is to provide Exchequer support for larger sports facility projects where the Exchequer investment would be greater than the maximum amount available under the Community Sport Facilities Fund (CSFF), formerly known as the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP).
The first call for proposals under the LSSIF closed in 2019 with applications confined to local authorities and National Governing Bodies of Sport. New swimming pool projects and the refurbishment of existing swimming pools were eligible to apply for LSSIF grant funding subject to published guidelines and regulations. All applications were assessed in accordance with the published Evaluation Procedures and Guidelines with the first allocations announced in January 2020.
An application was received from Kildare County Council for design funding towards a new swimming pool in Maynooth with €1 million sought. The total funding applied for under the scheme significantly exceeded the amount available to allocate and the swimming pool project in Maynooth did not score sufficiently highly to be awarded a grant.
Earlier this year, Minister Martin and I announced funding of up to €120 million under the new 2024 round of the LSSIF.
The application period for LSSIF 2024 closed on 1 July 2024. A total of 96 applications were submitted and valid applications are now being assessed by my officials. No application was received in respect of funding for a swimming pool in Maynooth.
