Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 6 May 1993

Vol. 430 No. 4

Adjournment Debate. - Cavan Swimming Pool Project.

Mr. Boylan:

I thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, and the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Deputy Browne, for coming in to deal with this matter. It is in rather poignant circumstances we debate this subject this evening. I have just returned from the funeral of one of the prime movers of the project, the treasurer of the committee responsible, the late Mrs. Margaret Tully, mother of four young children, who died suddenly yesterday morning. I am sure it is appropriate in this House to offer sympathy to her husband and young family. She was a marvellous person and it would be a great reward for her efforts if the Minister had some good news for us this evening.

The swimming pool in Cavan was first mooted 15 years ago and a committee was formed. Like all good Cavan people, they were not going to depend on the State but set about fund raising. To date they have the commendable sum of £300,000 to put towards this project. A site is available and all that remains is for the Minister to give sanction. Tenders were submitted to his Department as early as last February but to date there has been a deafening silence. That is not good enoough.

Our case is based on the fact that Cavan is the only county without an indoor swimming pool, despite the fact that it is an inland county. Many other counties with these facilities are beside the sea. We do not have that facility but we are renowned for lakes and rivers. Marvellous work has been done by many local committees in teaching children to swim in our lakes and rivers. This is slightly dangerous but it is well supervised. Many children are taken by teachers and others to adjoining counties for swimming instruction. If this facility was in Cavan it would be availed of.

I can give the Minister of State categorical assurance that there would be no further cost to the State in relation to its upkeep because the project would pay for itself if properly constructed. At this stage we will not accept a tank filled with water in a hole in the ground. We need all the ancillary services that people expect when they go swimming. The parents accompanying the children should be able to sit in a seated area and enjoy a cup of coffee or a mineral. Those are simple facilities but they will be at a cost. It must be a place to which people are attracted.

We met the former Minister for the Environment, Mr. Flynn, over two years ago when he gave a categoric assurance that we were next in line for a swimming pool when the refurbishing of pools built by the State, which had fallen into dilapidation, had been completed. It is not good enough that a county or a community provided with a pool should allow it to fall into disrepair and that we should have to await our turn until it was refurbished. We understood the Minister's position that for the sake of the safety of the children using them they had to be refurbished. That project is now completed. It is not fair that the people of Cavan should have to wait any longer.

The Minister is being given an assurance by a committee who have shown their commitment and interest by collecting a substantial amount of money. He has my assurance regarding its usage. If the Minister takes this project on board, a contractor can start work immediately, jobs would be created and an important facility would be provided for Cavan — the only county without such a facility. I look forward to a positive response.

Mr. Browne

(Wexford): I appreciate the Deputy's interest in this project and I thank him for this opportunity to set out the position in relation to the Cavan swimming pool.

Before dealing with the Cavan project, however, it would be as well to outline briefly the various stages in my Department's assessment of swimming pool projects and how this assessment ties in with the commitment of funding to a particular project.

My Department pays grants of 80 per cent of the approved cost of new swimming pools, with the remainder of the cost being funded by local contribution. To qualify for a grant, a pool must be built to Department's specification. The commitment of funds to a particular project can only be considered when the project design has been approved and the local authority are in a position to accept a tender for the project. The overall allocation for the swimming pool programme and the competing demands of other swimming pool projects for the available funds must, of course, be taken into account.

The first stage in the development of a swimming pool proposal is for the local authority to submit an outline proposal to my Department, comprising a site description, a description and outline technical drawings of the proposed works, an estimate of the costs and an indication of how the local contribution is to be provided. If the Department is satisfied with the proposal and with the arrangements for the local contribution and accepts the need for the proposed swimming pool, approval in principle will be given. The local authority may then proceed to prepare detailed drawings and specifications, normally called contract documents, and submit these for approval. When the contract documents have been approved by my Department, tenders are invited and proposals for the acceptance of tenders are submitted to the Department for approval in due course. It is only at this stage, when the acceptance of tenders is being sanctioned, that a grant is formally allocated to the project so that work can be undertaken.

In the case of the Cavan pool, my Department wrote to Cavan County Council on 9 August, 1991 conveying approval to their outline proposals and gave a commitment in principle to provide funding. Last September my Department approved the contract documents submitted by Cavan County Council. We are currently examining proposals for the acceptance of tenders for the civil engineering works, the mechanical plant and the electrical plant which were submitted by Cavan County Council on 24 February, 22 March and 29 March, 1993, respectively. A decision on the tender proposals will be notified to the council as soon as possible. The question of a grant allocation will be dealt with at that stage.