Vol. 503 No. 6
I move:
That Dáil Éireann calls on the Government to immediately set up a capital programme for the refurbishment and upgrading of substand ard swimming pools in operation throughout the country.
With your agreement, a Cheann Comhairle, I wish to share my time with a number of other Fine Gael speakers.
May I have their names?
I will give them in the course of my speech.
It would be better to give them as soon as possible.
While there has been an impressive growth in the number of privately owned swimming pools in recent years, unfortunately, many of these facilities are outside the financial reach of many people. Family membership for many of these centres can cost anything up to £1,000 per year. The growth of private leisure centres has taken place at a time of rapid deterioration in the condition of public facilities. There is now a large number of public swimming pools that are sub-standard and in urgent need of major refurbishment. The poor physical condition of many of them has meant that attendance figures have dropped off dramatically in recent years. This has happened at a time when we should be encouraging people, young and old, to become more involved in exercise for health reasons but also getting young people involved in a leisure activity instead of the anti-social activities to which many are attracted.
The Minister has a personal interest in this matter. If we invest in sport and recreation we will help young people to stay on the straight and narrow. Sport and recreation are the greatest preventative elements in the fight against crime and drugs. There have been many striking examples in recent years of crime and drug taking dropping dramatically as a result of properly organised facilities being put into disadvantaged areas.
In response to a parliamentary question submitted by me on Tuesday, 23 March 1999, the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation replied that there are over 60 pools owned and managed by local authorities throughout the country, which were mainly built mainly in the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, in looking at the records, I discovered that some were built way back in the 1930s. The pools at Templemore and Tullamore were built in 1935 and 1937 respectively. It is obvious. therefore, that the majority of these pools are absolutely unattractive and do not meet modern day requirements.
According to the reply I received on 23 March, the pool in Ballyshannon was built in 1974, the one in Dunmanway in 1978, the one in Tuam in 1971, those in Portlaoise and Portarlington in 1974, the one in Longford Town in 1968 and the one in Castlerea in 1940. Those figures give an idea of the existing position.
The Minister also confirmed that at present he has grant applications for refurbishment totalling almost £20 million. This figure is conservative and will escalate dramatically because of the rapid deterioration in the condition of many pools. The cost will escalate within a short time from the £20 million outlined in the Minister's reply, nearer to a figure of between £40 and £50 million.
Further to the demands for refurbishment grants, it is my information that the Minister has at least four applications from local authorities for new pools currently on his desk, as well as one application from an organisation other than a local authority. Perhaps the Minister of State will quantify exactly the number of applications from local authorities that have been made.
The development of new pools and the refurbishment of existing public pools was until recently the responsibility of the Department of the Environment and Local Government. That was with the exception of the pools defined in the plans for the regional sports complexes. The budget for meeting the demands placed on the Department of the Environment and Local Government was approximately £3 million per annum which was met from the proceeds of the national lottery.
The Minister is currently considering proposals for the refurbishment of 14 pools operated by local authorities, as well as demands for new facilities in a number of areas. The pools that require refurbishment are at Glenalbyn in Dún Laoghaire, under the control of the local county council; Galway County Council's pool at Tuam; pools at Naas and Athy under the control of Kildare County Council and pools at Portarlington, Castlebar and Roscommon.
Dublin Corporation is proposing to carry out major refurbishment at Ballymun costing £2.7 million, while at the same time there is a request for a pool at Finglas, at the same cost. Drogheda Corporation has made an application for a pool at Rathmullen at a total cost of £2 million, while Wexford Corporation has requested £1.162 million for a development at Ferry Bank. Ballinasloe UDC has applied for £1.2 million towards the cost of refurbishing its pool, while Thurles UDC has applied for £1.5 million and Tralee UDC has applied for just under £1 million.
This level of demand indicates that there is now a serious problem nationally with the condition of our pools and further requests for major grant aid will be made shortly by a number of local authorities.
A total of 48 public indoor pools were built between 1966 and 1974, 32 of those by local authorities. These pools were built mainly on the basis of the 1972 Department of the Environment guidelines prior to the oil crisis of 1974. As a result of obsolete systems and inadequate maintenance programmes, a rapid deterioration in the actual building fabric has occurred in recent years, resulting in a high number of pools throughout the country being in urgent need of refurbishment.
There is now a serious crisis in swimming pool funding, particularly in relation to the refurbishment of facilities. It now seems that between £40 and £50 million will be required for the redevelopment of these outdated pools. This issue must be addressed within a short time.
When I took office as Minister of State with responsibility for sport in 1995, I set up an expert group to look at sports facilities. I asked the group to consult with the Institute for Leisure and Amenity Management. The group, in its report entitled Targeting Sporting Change in Ireland, published in February 1997, stated that the planning criteria used by the Department of Environment and Local Government and the specifications for swimming pools were in need of urgent revision to take account of recent technological developments, market based planning, demand for conventional leisure pools and the need for professional management structures and operators. It also found that, even though the Departments of Education and Science and the Environment and Local Government were currently funding swimming pools – this was in 1997 – the co-ordinated planning of such facilities in Ireland at an interdepartmental level was very poor. That report also found that the approach of various local authorities throughout the country to the management of public swimming pools was quite diverse. It also found that public swimming pool facilities operated by community based independent management companies employing professional personnel were far more successful than those directly operated by local authorities in terms of usage, service quality and financial performance. The report also found that there was an urgent need for all local authorities to develop a comprehensive sports and recreation strategy which addressed all aspects of sport and recreation development, including the provision and management of swimming pool facilities.
It has been proved in Cork city, for example, that a modern, professionally managed public swimming pool, supported by the local authority, will achieve standards in terms of the number of users, service quality and financial performance never reached by centres operated directly by local authorities.
Swim World in Cork, which was Government funded and operated by a management group under licence from Cork Corporation, has surpassed all targets and, since its opening in 1997, has embarked on a further development involving gymnasium facilities which are complementary to the main activity. This has been done in response to public demand for the facility and it is making a profit.
Members of the Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Sport and Recreation recently received the report of the review group on the sports capital programme which was completed in December 1998. This report has raised major issues in relation to the future spending on capital projects. One question that needs to be answered is whether we should be spending vast amounts of money on high profile projects at a time when basic facilities in every parish, village, town, city and county are grossly inadequate. Should the Government be planning to spend at least £100 million, if not more, on a national stadium when the same money could be spent to develop facilities throughout the country which would get everyone, and young people especially, involved in sport and recreation? Should we be supporting the root and branch development of sport and recreation for all ages at community level which will ensure a healthy sporting structure at national level? Should these high profile projects be embarked upon at a serious cost to quality and quantity of facilities at local level?
The Taoiseach answered a question from Deputy John Bruton which confirmed that over £350,000 has been spent on a feasibility study concerning a national outdoor arena. This at a time when Croke Park is being developed to an ultramodern standard, when the FAI is planning a national stadium in west Dublin and when the IRFU is considering either a stadium at Newlands Cross or developing Lansdowne Road. This consultants' report is a waste of money. They will tell us either what we know already or something the Department should have the expertise to tell us. Given the crisis in swimming pools throughout the country, spending this money on feasibility studies is scandalous and there are major questions to be answered as a result.
In recent years, we have seen a high profile demand for a 50 metre swimming pool in Ireland. That demand is reasonable and realistic, but it must be considered in the context of the serious situation I have outlined, which may not be popular. The report of the review group is helpful but a national sports inventory should be immediately undertaken which would examine the size, location, age and condition of existing facilities and equipment. More immediately, an inventory of all swimming facilities should be undertaken. This could be done in a matter of months and informed decisions could then be made on the use of resources based on that inventory.
In considering the most effective use of the available resources, consideration must be given to joint ventures in the development of national and regional facilities. I am disappointed that the recent review group report does not examine the possible use of tax incentives to encourage private sector investment in joint ventures. The major challenge now is to develop top quality outdoor and indoor facilities capable of meeting the needs of communities as well as the requirements of those who need top class facilities for training and competition. The Government cannot do everything and is unable to meet all demands. The Minister told us recently that 1,900 applications for funding throughout the country have been lodged with his Department. However, we must consider the volunteer ethos and enthusiasm among organisations and communities and we must satisfy their needs in an ordered way. The Government cannot meet all demands for financial support; therefore it is vital that financial incentives be put in place to make the provision of facilities profitable ventures as well as socially desirable. Tax incentives for joint venture sporting complexes and rates relief must be considered.
There will also have to be greater co-ordination between Departments, as I have mentioned in the past. It is beyond comprehension that so many Departments are involved in sport. The Department of Education and Science provides physical education and sports halls and outdoor activity centres; the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources is involved in marine activities and the Department of Defence is involved in equestrian sport and provides playing pitches. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment provides FÁS courses for sports coaches while the Department of Health and Children is involved in preventative measures in the sports area. Both the Department of the Environment and Local Government and Justice, Equality and Law Reform also have major roles.
In the provision of this inventory we must also look at the under-usage of existing facilities. I refer to sports and school halls throughout the country. There is no purpose in funding sports halls that are open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday, but are locked at weekends. I have seen scandalous scenes in areas devoid of sporting facilities where the gates were not just locked but greased so that young people could not get in to use the hard surface areas of these facilities. There will have to be realistic co-ordination between the Departments of Tourism, Sport and Recreation and Education and Science to free up these facilities. They must be open to those who need them most – young people.
I wish to share my time with Deputy Perry.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
Public policy in the UK is that everyone over the age of eight must learn to swim; a similar policy is needed here. However, it cannot be implemented unless there are adequate facilities. In 1998, 60 people died by accidental drowning. In welcoming the Government's plan to develop an inland rescue service similar to the coastal service, we must remember that prevention is better than cure. Only a small percentage of young people in inland counties have learned to swim. A 50 metre pool will be a wonderful facility but we must ensure that our existing 25 metre pools are upgraded. There will not be top class swimmers to compete in our 50 metre pool if young people cannot take part in the sport in their own communities and towns. We must invest in the refurbishment of 25 metre pools before we spend money on a 50 metre pool. Flagship projects are well and good but we must develop facilities throughout the country to encourage young athletes who can go on to avail of these flagship facilities.
Last year a drowning tragedy occurred in County Sligo. On 18 May 1998 a newspaper headline read, "Three teenagers feared drowned off Sligo". That fear was well founded and the bodies of three young men were recovered from the sea. The three friends were non-swimmers and had got into difficulty while wading in the sea off Strandhill, County Sligo. On a visit to the location of the tragedy, the Taoiseach promised that the Government would try to ensure that such an accident would never recur. Serious questions are being raised about water safety but it has taken a tragedy such as that at Strandhill to focus our minds. The Sligo accident has cast a cloud over the standard of swimming education in Ireland. Of the four teenagers who got into difficulty, none could swim, let alone practise life saving techniques.
The three teenagers from Sligo lived on the border of County Roscommon. One attended the school in Ballaghadereen which has applied to the Minister for the provision of a swimming pool. Ballaghaderreen has a large hinterland and is equidistant from Boyle and Castlerea, the other major towns in the area. More than 800 second level students attend the local school and there is a great need for a pool in the area. The people of the town have raised £250,000 towards the provision of a pool but the Minister has failed to provide the necessary extra funding.
Two further applications for the refurbishment of the swimming pools in Castlerea and Roscommon town are on the Minister's desk, . The pool in Roscommon town has a list of defects which includes a roof constructed of asbestos, an inoperable air ventilation system, a water-heating and filtering system which would be more appropriately housed in the National Museum and changing facilities which are politely defined as sub-standard. The water level in the pool is maintained by direct flow from tap water and the pool itself is leaking. The local sub-aqua club who provide an excellent search and rescue service in the county used to use the pool for training. This organisation is vitally important in a county such as Roscommon which borders the rivers Shannon and Suck. However, as the pool is now closed, the members of the club must travel to Ballinasloe, more than 30 miles away, to train. This puts increased financial pressure on a voluntary organisation which is inadequately funded.
The third application on the Minister's desk is for the refurbishment of Castlerea swimming pool. This is an outdoor pool and the funding required is modest in relation to the overall budget for pools. The pool was erected by the local community through their own persistence and they are now seeking a helping hand from the Government to carry out works including the refurbishment of the changing facilities. The Minister must now recognise the community spirit of the people of Castlerea by providing the required funds. It is a disgrace that a county surrounded by inland waterways does not have a proper swimming pool. It is also a disgrace for the Government to fund the provision of a 50 metre pool while neglecting our existing 25 metre pools. The Minister must urgently approve these applications and ensure that the work is done as soon as possible.
Similar problems exist in other inland counties. My own county has suffered from the lack of investment in swimming pools. Inland counties should receive priority funding for swimming pools. The counties of Laois and Offaly and many other inland counties have serious problems with regard to swimming pools. While coastal counties appear to receive adequate funding for pools, inland counties fail to do so. Swimming pools are not provided where they are needed. People in inland counties do not have an opportunity to swim until they go to the sea. This presents enormous risks.
A number of tragedies have occurred and 60 lives were lost in 1998. Many of those people came from inland counties and did not have basic swimming skills. We must provide training in swimming. Last year, 39,975 swimming certificates were awarded. Many of these were awarded in County Roscommon and tremendous work is being done in Roscommon town swimming pool, training young people in swimming, safety and survival and rescue. This opportunity will not be available in 1999 because Roscommon town swimming pool – one of only two swimming pools in the county and the only indoor pool – is now closed because of lack of funds. A tendering process will be instituted in the near future but without a commitment of Government funds, facilities will not be developed. County Roscommon is bounded by rivers and lakes, yet the county does not have basic facilities to teach swimming and water safety. While the Minister promotes the building of a 50 metre pool, young people in County Roscommon are denied this basic facility.
I compliment Deput Allen on proposing this motion and I ask the Minister to accept it.
I congratulate my colleague, Deputy Allen on bringing this important subject before the House. We must upgrade our existing swimming facilities. In providing new pools, we must not forget the existing infrastructure and the need to upgrade it. Many of the pools I refer to were built in the late 1960s and early 1970s and are sadly in need of refurbishment. They have dilapidated heating systems, ventilating systems which do not work, substandard changing facilities, and pools which are leaking. Many of these pools are health hazards. In a pool in my own locality there has been an outbreak of verruca and other foot infections. I have been in one of these pools myself and I know it is not of a satisfactory standard.
Swimming is an essential part of a person's education and should be an integral part of our education system. Many schools use local pools to teach pupils to swim but this can be difficult. To do so depends on the goodwill of staff and on the availability of teachers with the necessary skills and qualifications. The school with which I am involved is fortunate in having a swimming coach on the staff but many schools are not so fortunate.
Ireland is surrounded by water. We are a seafaring and boating nation, yet we do not have a history of competence in swimming. In the tragic accident referred to by Deputy Naughton, three young people died because they could not swim. This is a sad reflection on our education system and on the standard of our swimming facilities.
Swimming is a healthy activity. It is recommended as an exercise which promotes aerobic fitness and should be encouraged for that reason.
The Gus Healy Swimming Pool in Douglas, Cork – named after our late colleague and Lord Mayor of Cork – is in a very sad state. It is in need of refurbishment and upgrading having been neglected for many years. It is in competition with private leisure facilities in hotels throughout the city which offer membership at exorbitant cost, up to £1,000 for a family for a year.
The municipal pool should be an essential part of every community. Some offer reduced rates to old age pensioners and the unemployed to encourage them to use their leisure time more effectively. Young people should also be encouraged to learn to swim in order to keep them off the street and thus contribute to a better society.
Deputy Allen mentioned the swimming pools throughout the country that are in need of refurbishment. Some are dilapidated and could be deemed to be a health hazard. I hope the Minister will provide the necessary moneys.
I pay tribute to Deputy Allen on bringing forward this motion. There is a need to ensure proper facilities are provided. The previous Government committed funds to the refurbishment of the swimming pool in my home town of Monaghan for which the Government has agreed to provide additional funding. As the pool is in constant use, many have to travel to Armagh and further afield to avail of alternative facilities. There is an enormous need for a swimming pool in Castleblayney. Pupils and others from the town as well as from Carrickmacross have to travel long distances to avail of such a facility.
I pay tribute to Deputy Allen for giving a commitment, when Minister of State, to a community group in Bailieboro which had raised funds for a swimming pool. Because of the generosity of a specific donor, its task was made much easier. Others may claim credit but were it not for the efforts of Deputy Allen, with encouragement from Deputy Boylan and me, the project may not have proceeded. As there is no direct access from my constituency to the sea, there is a need to provide proper swimming facilities.
Sub-aqua clubs need to be supported. There is an extremely good one in County Monaghan which was involved in a recent rescue of the wrong sort. Monaghan County Council is looking at the possibility of providing it with a permanent base. It will be seeking the necessary funding from the Minister.
As highlighted last year in one of the most comprehensive studies ever undertaken, lack of funding and lack of planning are the major difficulties facing sport. The overall thrust of the 109 page document is that there is a piecemeal approach. Funding for facilities and, particularly, coaching at community level is drawn from a variety of sources, including the national lottery, the Department of Education and Science, the Department of the Environment and Local Government, the EU Operational Programme for Tourism, local authorities and the private sector, between which there are no structured links. The study highlights the need for strategic planning which should be seen as an immediate priority.
A number of problems need to be addressed. Outdated public swimming pool facilities should be refurbished as a matter of urgency. A total of 48 public indoor swimming pools were built between 1966 and 1974, 32 by local authorities. They were built in accordance with Department of the Environment and Local Government guidelines before the oil crisis of 1974. As a result of obsolete systems and inadequate maintenance programmes, there has been rapid deterioration during the years. A high number are in urgent need of attention. Between £40 million and £50 million is required.
The 118 local authorities which are controlled by the Department of the Environment and Local Government provide the greatest level of funding to sport. In 1995 combined expenditure on sport and recreational amenities came to £108 million. According to the report, Targeting Sporting Change in Ireland, for which Deputy Allen must be complimented for initiating, there is a lack of strategic planning. Since the introduction of com pulsory competitive tendering in 1991, local authorities in Britain and Northern Ireland have a responsibility to provide sports and leisure facilities.
In a parliamentary question Deputy Allen asked the Minister the swimming pools operated by local authorities; the year in which they were built; the size of each pool; if there are applications from relevant local authorities for upgrading of these pools and, if so, the individual amounts applied for. The list is startling. It includes swimming pools from Tuam to Ballymun and Finglas in Dublin and from Ballinasloe to Thurles and Tralee. I appeal to the Government to make the necessary funds available. It would make economic sense.
The Sports Council in the United Kingdom is listed as one of the agencies to be consulted in local development as part of which the provision of swimming pools is sought. Here there is a lack of vision in terms of how the available funding should be used. Much was expected of the Minister when he was appointed to Cabinet and also of the Taoiseach who has a huge interest in sport, although his interest has not been obvious in monetary terms. I compliment Deputy Allen for initiating this important debate and I appeal to the Government to make funds available for the renovation and opening of pools, which are urgently needed.
May I share my time with Deputy Michael Kitt?
Is that agreed? Agreed. The Minister of State has 30 minutes.
I welcome the opportunity to outline to the House the Government's programme to contribute to the provision of sports facilities, including swimming pool facilities throughout the country.
Sport makes a unique contribution to society. It contributes in a special way to our social and economic development and has a significant and enriching impact on our culture and identity. Sport has obvious benefits in promoting health and fitness as well as having a commercial and economic significance. Sporting achievements provide a morale boost for the country at large, focus international attention on our country and promote our image as an attractive place to visit and to invest in to generate new jobs.
Our high achievers in sport are excellent ambassadors for modem Ireland typifying as they do the self-confidence and commitment of today's generation of young Irish people. In other words, sport is a major contributor to the quality of life in Ireland today.
In line with this Government's recognition of the value of sport and leisure to the physical and mental health of each individual, especially the role they can play in fostering a sense of community identity in even the most deprived areas, we have set a goal for our Department as follows: to formulate and oversee the implementation of policies for the promotion and development of sport and to encourage increased participation in sport and recreation, particularly by disadvantaged communities.
To achieve this goal a number of key objectives have been set, namely: to develop a new policy framework for the promotion and development of sport and recreation; to promote a more strategic approach to the use of available resources for sport and recreation in Ireland by a sector driven mainly by voluntary effort; to develop a new holistic system of supports for high performance by athletes; to help overcome the isolating effects of social exclusion in disadvantaged areas by developing appropriate sport and recreational strategies for those areas and to encourage the promotion of standards of good conduct and fair play in sport.
This Government has brought a new drive and momentum to the development of sport. This is borne out by the fact that the amount of funding available for sport has been increased significantly by this Government. This year we will spend £39 million per year on sport compared with £13 million per year when the rainbow government left office. As the first Cabinet Minister with responsibility for sport, Deputy McDaid, is proud, as am I, that this is the largest annual budget ever allocated by a Government to assist development in sport.
As we all know, swimming is generally considered to be one of the best forms of exercise for developing and maintaining high levels of physical fitness. It is a sport in which most people can participate from a very early age throughout their lives. Swimming is a most basic, natural and efficient way of taking exercise. It is also an exercise in which many disabled people participate and which brings great joy and satisfaction to their lives.
The National Survey of Involvement in Sport and Physical Activity published in 1996 showed that swimming was second only to walking as the most popular form of physical recreational activity. This survey, which covered people between the ages of 16 and 75 years of age, indicated that around 425,000 people participate in swimming. In addition the survey pointed out that more people wanted to swim and wished that more swimming facilities would be provided.
The development of a quality infrastructure is crucial in the implementation of sport policy. In this context, the sports capital and swimming pool programmes, administered by my Department, are very important.
The sports capital programme provides national lottery funding towards the provision of sport and recreational sport facilities at national, regional and local levels. It is the primary vehicle for promoting the development of such facilities and I am happy to say the Government has committed more than £50 million from the lottery to the programme over the next three years. This is a three fold increase over what was provided in the previous three years. Funding allocated under the programme assists sports clubs, voluntary and community groups to construct, refurbish, improve and equip high quality, well-designed and sustainable sport and recreational sport facilities.
A comprehensive review of the programme was undertaken by my Department in 1998 and as a result, a new programme was developed with revised aims and objectives, assessment criteria and terms and conditions for grant assistance.
Under the new programme special priority is being given to the development of facilities in disadvantaged areas in line with Government policy aimed at increasing participation in sport and recreation, particularly in those areas. Some 1,900 applications have been received for funding under the programme in respect of a variety of sporting facilities.
These applications are currently being examined in my Department and given the large number of applications received and the level of work involved in assessing them, we expect to be in a position to make final announcements on the 1999 round of grant allocations later this year.
In addition to the funding available under the sports capital programme for the development of sports facilities in disadvantaged areas, I remind the House of the announcement made yesterday in the presence of the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and my colleague, the Minister, Deputy McDaid, in connection with the allocation of more than £25 million for the provision of facilities and services including sports facilities in the 13 drugs task force areas of Dublin and Cork City.
This funding, which is being allocated under the Young Peoples Facilities and Services Fund, will contribute to the provision of 86 capital facilities in the 13 areas over three years. Of these 86 capital projects, 20 will be sports and recreation facilities.
The purpose of the Young People's Facilities and Services Fund is to assist the development of preventative drug strategies in a targeted manner, through the development of youth, sport and recreational facilities and services in disadvantaged areas. The aim is to attract disadvantaged young people in these areas into these facilities and programmes and, I hope, divert them from the dangers of substance abuse.
Under the swimming pool programme which provides capital funding for local authority swimming pools my Department pays grants of up to 100 per cent of the approved cost of refurbishing existing pools and up to 80 per cent of the approved cost of new swimming pools, with the remainder of the cost being funded by local contribution. Applications for funding under the programme must be submitted through the local authority supporting the project.
To qualify for a grant, a pool must comply with the Department's procedures for the planning, approval and financing of swimming pools and technical guidelines. In general, there are four stages to a swimming pool project: the preliminary report stage, the contract document stage, the tender stage and the construction stage. Each stage is evaluated by my Department's technical advisers and local authorities are advised on when they can proceed to the various stages of the project.
The commitment of funds to a project can only be considered when the project design has been approved and the local authority is in a position to accept a tender. The overall allocation of funding for the swimming pool programme and the competing demands of other pool projects for the available funds must be taken into account in deciding which projects can proceed.
Local authorities are currently responsible for the operation of 73 per cent of all public swimming pools. At present, there are 66 local authority swimming pools throughout the country. Some 55 of these are indoor pools, of which 51 are currently operational. Some 11 are outdoor pools, of which ten are currently open during the summer months only.
Since 1988, a total of £16 million in grant-aid has been allocated under the programme in respect of three new local authority pools which have been built in that period and various levels of refurbishment at a further 25 pools.
My Department is aware that in the past ten years, the number of indoor hotel leisure clubs in Ireland has increased from 65 to 138 in 1999. In addition, there has been an increase over the past three years in the provision of private stand alone leisure clubs. The lack of quality public facilities is considered to be one of the reasons for the increase in private facilities. In general, adult consumers are more affluent today, they enjoy a higher standard of living and, consequently, have more disposable income available for sports and leisure activities. Increasingly, customer expectation of the standard of facility on offer is also higher.
The type, level and quality of public swimming pool facilities provided and accepted in the 1970s and 1980s are no longer acceptable as we face into a new millennium. Local authority pools must now compete with private facilities and must provide additional health and fitness facilities over and above the basic pool if they are to be viable and successful ventures. Where new public pools have been provided in recent years, the improvement in quality and in the actual facilities available has been significant and these have now become the minimum standard for the future.
The swimming pool programme has a budget of £3 million in 1999 for the refurbishment of existing pools and the construction of new pools. This money is fully committed to the refurbishment of three pools in Arklow, Monaghan and Waterford, the construction of six new pools in Ennis, Navan, Athlone, Enniscorthy, Wicklow town and at Renmore in Galway and the remainder is due on outstanding balances on three recently completed projects.
At present, the Department has applications on hand for the refurbishment of nine local authority pools. These relate to the existing pools at Tuam, Naas, Athy, Portarlington, Castlebar, Ferrybank in Wexford, Ballinasloe, Thurles, Tralee and Dundalk. In addition, the Department has on hand applications from the relevant local authorities for funding towards the provision of new pools. Among these applications are proposals for new pools at Dundalk, Longford, Roscrea, Portlaoise and Bray.
A number of applications for swimming pool projects has also been received under the 1999 sports capital programme, five of which relate to local authority pools. These are Ballymun, Finglas and Glenalbyn in Dublin, Rathmullen in Drogheda and Portarlington.
The Department is currently examining, in conjunction with its technical advisers, the nine refurbishment proposals on hand with a view to prioritising them for future funding. It is clear that considerable investment is required over the next few years to update a number of existing local authority pools to provide attractive, competitive and viable public swimming facilities. In a number of cases, the pools were built prior to the oil crises of the 1970s and without due regard to energy efficiency or resistance to the corrosive environments of a pool. We hope to be able to make decisions on these proposals over the coming months.
We are also aware that a number of other pools, for which the relevant local authorities have not yet applied for funding, require major refurbishment work. The Minister will consider the position of these pools over the coming months and plans to put policies in place to address the current problem of the condition of local authority pools when the examination of existing refurbishment proposals is complete. However, it must be borne in mind that there will always be limits on the level of funding available.
Although this motion is not directly concerned with the long-standing 50 metre pool issue, it would be worthwhile to refer briefly to it. The provision – or rather the non-provision – of a 50 metre facility for our elite swimmers seems to have been on the agenda of every Government of recent times. No doubt, the attempts to deal conclusively with the issue were well-meaning but, unfortunately, they failed to come to anything. That is why it gives me particular pleasure to state that the first Minister at Cabinet with responsibility for sport, Deputy McDaid, is presiding over a tender process which he is absolutely confident will deliver the pool, not merely in the form of some further worthy blueprint but in bricks and mortar.
Although the High Court is due to hear a case next month taken by a disqualified tenderer, the Minister remains confident that this will not blow our final objective off course and that, sooner rather than later, we will have a facility which will give our elite swimmers at senior and junior level the chance to train in conditions which will greatly enhance their prospects of success in international competition. This facility, when completed, will provide swimming opportunities for the general swimming public.
The Department is committed to reviewing the swimming pool programme before the end of 1999. As part of this exercise, it is proposed to review and update the procedures for planning and financing swimming pools and technical guidelines which set out the Department's requirements in relation to the planning, approval and funding of pool projects. It is also proposed to address a number of other issues in the review of the programme. These will include looking at appropriate maintenance and management structures for pools for the future to ensure best value for State investment.
It is vital that the promotion of sport and the development of facilities, such as swimming pools, is carried out in a strategic and focused way. That means establishing priorities, avoiding overlaps and ensuring full access to available facilities. Funding under the swimming pool programme, in the past, was provided in an ad hoc manner, without due regard to the specific requirements of particular areas. We are determined that the development of pools under the programme for the future will be done in a structured and focused way, concentrating on areas of greatest need.
In relation to Deputy Naughten's query on the Roscommon pool, approval was granted in March by the Minister to prepare contract documents and it is hoped that funding will be provided later this year. The Minister is currently considering the issue of the national sports inventory and hopes to make a decision on how to proceed with this in the next few weeks. He has also requested the Department of Finance to consider how tax incentives might contribute to dealing with the results of the inventory.
The Government recognises the need for further investment in the renovation of existing pools and the building of new pools and this is one of the Minister's priorities for the future. The Government is in office less than two years and significant improvements have been made in the provision of sporting and community facilities. By the end of our term of office, it is our intention that the unfinished business in relation to swimming provision will have been addressed. In that context, we hope to increase the level of provision for the refurbishment of existing pools and the provision of new pools as resources permit.
I thank the Minister of State for sharing his time and congratulate Deputy Allen on tabling this motion. We all realise there are sub-standard swimming pools which need to be refurbished and renovated. The Minister of State mentioned the pool in Ballinasloe which has been on the refurbishment list for some years. Twenty-four years ago I joined Galway County Council and I recall a proposal every year that the local authority give a subvention to Ballinasloe Urban District Council for the maintenance of the swimming pool. That subvention has been ongoing. A new heating system was provided over the years for the pools in Ballinasloe and Tuam resulting in the pools being more efficient, with heating bills cut drastically.
It is marvellous news that schools have been allowed use the pools on a regular basis in the area I represent. Increasingly schools and adult groups are using the pools, particularly the ICA and other women's groups which have organised swimming lessons and have had many social outings built around the use of the pools. I encourage even greater use of swimming pools. The pool in Ballinasloe was used to launch the Connacht Special Olympics. I sincerely congratulate the Minister on his announcement that the Special Olympics will be held in Ireland in 2003. Many parts of the country which have sports facilities, including swimming pools, will be involved in the Special Olympics. The pool in Ballinasloe has facilities for people with special needs and has organised times on Sunday mornings for people, particularly children, with special needs.
Every Deputy has referred to the need for new swimming pools and the Minister of State gave a list of applications in this regard. Deputy Perry referred to some of the pools in need of refurbishment, including that in Galway. Renmore has rightly been referred to by the Minister in terms of a new swimming pool. I am sure the Minister is aware that Galway Corporation has made a very strong case for the location of the 50 metre swimming pool in Galway. The Minister has many friends in Galway and many connections with the university and I am sure he has been approached in this regard.
One of the difficulties in the past in relation to inquiries by public representatives was that we were dealing with the Department of the Environment. However, we are now dealing with a different Department. We are hoping that given the extra money being made available, as outlined by the Minister of State, there will be more progress on refurbishment, renovation and upgrading of pools and on the development of new pools.
Not mentioned on the list was an application by Loughrea Swimming Pool Company in Galway. A feasibility study was updated and revised by Holohan Leisure in Dublin on the advice of the assistant county manager of Galway County Council. The study was subsequently presented by the assistant county manager to a meeting of Loughrea Town Commissioners on 15 March 1999. I understand the application is with the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation since 25 March and I would like it to be added to the list.
It is very important that almost all swimming pools are involved in swimming lessons. The Minister of State rightly spoke about health and fitness facilities. In Ballinasloe in recent times, for example, a sauna has been provided while other swimming pools have provided whirl pools. Modern swimming pools have new facilities which one associates with hotel and leisure centres. Swimming pools, like modern leisure centres, should have top quality facilities. Unfortunately, too many swimming pools have poor facilities with very cold changing rooms and a lack of proper shower, toilet and drying facilities. This is one reason I strongly support upgrading the pools on the list which has been circulated, two of which are in County Galway and are among the oldest in the country.
Swimming pools should have longer opening hours, especially if swimming lessons take up a large amount of available time. Given that schools are increasingly using pools, local school buses should be used to bring students and children to pools. This is not just a matter for the private sector – we also have a role to play in this regard.
Another issue often brought to my notice is that many people do not know the opening hours of swimming pools. For example, there is confusion as to whether they are open on bank holidays. Local authorities should advertise the opening hours of pools on bank holidays and Sundays. The more people using pools the more money they will make and the stronger the case for refurbishment. Swimming pools are trying to survive and seek subvention. At the end of the day the question will centre on whether a local authority can provide funding.
I strongly support the case for the renovation, upgrading and refurbishment of swimming pools and I hope we will not forget the long list of applications for new swimming pools.
With the permission of the Chair, I wish to share time with Deputies Wall, Gilmore and Rabbitte.
I compliment Deputy Allen on bringing this important motion before the House and assure him that the Labour Party will support it. This year's capital programme for swimming pools provides an increase in funding of 16 per cent for the provision and restoration of swimming pools. This sounds good on the face of it, but the actual amount of money involved is £416,000 which represents an increase from £2.584 million to £3 million. The Estimate shows that £6 million is being provided in funding for the 50 metre pool. I do not have a problem with a 50 metre pool, but these figures underline a flaw in the Government's approach, namely, that twice as much money is available for a project which is essentially aimed towards high performance athletes as against facilities which cater for the broad range of citizens. The Minister of State mentioned a figure of £490,000 in his speech.
As a teacher I was involved in swimming. The school in which I taught was the first in Waterford to avail of the Waterford Crystal pool. The first important benefit which accrued was that the number of children in the school who could swim quickly increased to a higher percentage than before. There is on average more than one drowning per week. Figures are never that simple when broken down, but it shows a great deal still has to be done in terms of water safety and having the highest possible percentage of swimmers emerging from schools.
Access for the disabled to public and private swimming pools is a vital area. That agenda is being met by and large, but it is something about which we must be vigilant at all times. We should demand not only basic standards but also seek to make improvements and bring to bear new technologies. The therapeutic effect of swimming for people with disabilities is important. Learning to swim gives people with an intellectual disability a sense of achievement and adds to the quality of life of people with disabilities generally.
A theme running through the debate has been private pools, a sector in which there has been rapid growth. That is welcome because it adds to tourism potential as well as to facilities available in areas. I wish well those who can pay to avail of those pools. However, there is an attitude that public pools do not have to be of the same high standard and that is unacceptable. There must be the highest standards. I welcome some of the points made by the Minister of State which indicated we would be looking towards having high standards and making other leisure facilities available in pools. Financing pools and providing the requisite levels of staffing are problems for local authorities. Refurbishment is required after a while because the condition of pools reaches crisis levels. If other funding were available for more regular refurbishment, the State would get better value for money.
Swimming can be learned at a young age and is one of those sports people can take with them through life. It is available to the young, the old and the disabled. It is not a welcome fact that swimming pools have reached the condition described. The Minister stated recently he has funding applications totalling £20 million. On the basis of what is available this year, £3 million, it will take more than six years to deal with those applications. The Minister of State indicated there are other pools in respect of which the Department expects applications. This level of funding is not good enough. When Government revenue has never been better, surely this important area should be addressed. Its recreation element is important because involving young people in organised sport and healthy recreational activities was never more necessary than it is today.
I thank Deputy O'Shea for sharing time with me and I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important motion. I thank Deputy Allen, whose dedication to promoting sport is well known to all Members, for tabling the motion. There is an important political principle at its heart, which is that public facilities and the people who use public swimming pools deserve the same resources and facilities as those who can afford to join private clubs. In the past, public facilities have been starved of resources and were seen as easy prey for cutbacks in more financially stringent times. The reason the motion had to be tabled is probably due to the financial rectitude brigade who never realised that cutbacks hurt the old, sick and handicapped. The damage to public services during the 1980s was immense. Now when we have the resources at our disposal to rectify the situation, we should grasp the opportunity. I pay tribute to the work of my colleague, Deputy Howlin, when he was Minister for the Environment and was in charge of approving funding for swimming pool refurbishment. He recognised the important social and sporting roles swimming pools play in communities everywhere and battled for resources to ensure improvements were made.
However, Rome was not built in a day and much work remains to be done in upgrading public swimming facilities. The task of funding this programme now falls to the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation. I welcome this transfer of responsibility which is a sensible and rational administrative change. However, as with all else, the resources must be made available if progress on this issue, which is desperately needed, is to be achieved. There has been a huge upsurge in recent years in the number of private swimming facilities. Private clubs and gyms and the more upmarket hotels all have swimming pools, saunas and top quality facilities. However, it must be ensured that ordinary people and families and their children who cannot afford the huge annual fees these new institutions charge have the same access to high quality recreational facilities. The low paid people who struggle to make ends meet cannot be treated like second class citizens. They and their children deserve clean, high quality facilities and the State has an obligation to provide them.
In my constituency, Athy swimming pool needs in excess of £800,000 to bring it up to a proper standard. The local community has supported efforts to upgrade the pool and it is a central part of sport and school life in the town. The Minister, Deputy McDaid, is in a Cabinet with a Minister for Finance who chose to bank almost £1 billion last year. At a conservative estimate, a much greater surplus will weigh down his pockets this year. The challenge for the Minister is to argue at Cabinet that it is immoral for the Department of Finance to bank these enormous sums of money while communities must endure second rate facilities.
Members know of my deep involvement in sport. I have great belief in the benefits sport can bring, especially to young people. We have repeatedly heard that proper recreational facilities are crucial to building communities and ensuring children are not enticed down other avenues through boredom. Athy needs a proper swimming pool. A well researched proposal is before the Minister which has the support of the community. School children in south Kildare especially will benefit immensely from the refurbishment of the pool. The choice of whether this happens lies with the Minister and it is up to him to deliver to the people of Athy.
The Minister for Defence also has a major responsibility in Kildare. The condition of the pool in the Curragh camp is a disgrace. Schoolchildren in the area who relied on it have been forced to do without it because it has been forced to close. The Minister has commissioned a report and it is vital it is acted upon as a matter or urgency. This is the same Minister who repeatedly assured us that the closure of barracks would release funding for local communities. Kildare has suffered the loss of two barracks, Devoy and Magee, yet there has been no payback to the community as far as the Curragh pool is concerned. We need answers and financial commitments. I am sure everyone in Opposition supports the Minister, Deputy McDaid, in his efforts to ensure funding is provided for these facilities as a matter of urgency.
I thank Deputies O'Shea and Wall for sharing their time with me. I compliment Deputy Allen on tabling this motion.
I support the application made to the Minister by my local authority, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, for more than £2 million to refurbish and upgrade Glenalbyn swimming pool.
To put this in context, Dún Laoghaire Rath down stretches over an area of south County Dublin which has a population of approximately 300,000 people. In that area there are only two public swimming pools, one at Monkstown and the other at Glenalbyn. The Glenalbyn facility has been operated for some time in conjunction and co-operation with voluntary sporting organisations, the GAA and a swimming club. It is a highly used facility, especially given the extent of the area which it serves.
There is a need not only to upgrade the Glenalbyn facility, but to provide additional swimming facilities in this area. From a line between Monkstown and Stillorgan, where Glenalbyn is located, to Bray there is a population of between 100,000 and 150,000 people. The only other public swimming pool is at Presentation College, Bray, which functions as a public pool although it belongs to the college. If that pool were to close or not to be available to the public there would be no public swimming facility from Glenalbyn out as far as north County Wicklow. While there are a number of private facilities, many of them very fine, they have membership fees and charges which, by and large, put them beyond the reach of most people in the area.
There is a need to develop a new swimming facility at the southern end of the county, perhaps at Shankill, Loughlinstown or Cabinteely. For some years the Loughlinstown Leisure Centre, which is owned by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Council but is operated by an independent management committee, has had a plan for a swimming pool in that location. That facility and proposal should proceed.
An alternative might be to redevelop the old Dún Laoghaire baths, which might be an interesting project. They are a Victorian facility, an outdoor baths, which have now gone into disuse. It would be a worthwhile project to use public money to redevelop these baths as an indoor facility for the public of the area.
An issue I encounter frequently when talking to people, especially parents, is the lack of social and recreational facilities for young people. Money invested in swimming pools goes beyond the investment of money in sport. It is the provision of a social facility and is one of the unique sporting and leisure occupations which can be used and enjoyed by a family together at the same time and by young people.
Given the resources that are now available to the Government and the huge surpluses being generated, the amount of money available to the Minister for spending on swimming pools is pathetic. It is fair to say that he has the support of the House in seeking additional resources from his colleagues to invest in swimming facilities, both the refurbishment of existing facilities and the provision of new facilities. Any such investment would be very worthwhile, both in terms of the sports facilities provided and the social and leisure opportunities for the community as a whole.
I thought, Sir, there would be white blackbirds at the weekend when I heard your partners in Government argue for a massive public investment programme in infrastructure and suggesting this was the raison d'être of the founding of the Progressive Democrats. If there is one area of the country's infrastructure desperately in need of upgrading, it is the swimming pools, such as they are. They are the subject of the motion, which I support.
I wonder if anybody has told the Progressive Democrats about the motion because it ought to have been included in their rhetoric at the weekend. If the programme for Government is to be reviewed somebody should tell the Progressive Democrats about youth facilities, or the absence of youth facilities, in working class Ireland.
I listened with interest to my colleague, Deputy Gilmore, rhyming off foreign sounding names of places which contain run down swimming pools in need of development. I represent a constituency of approximately 100,000 people where there are largely no swimming pools. In view of this, I find it difficult to understand the Taoiseach throwing his weight today behind a third national stadium for a city with a population of one million or a country of less than four million. All economic work done on this concludes that the operation a third stadium is not feasible in the context of this size of population. The cost of constructing such a stadium will be between £40 and £60 million. No doubt a lot of money will be paid to consultants in the interim to advise on the precise cost. Would the Minister not be better allocating half of that money towards the programme of refurbishment envisaged in this motion and beginning work on some local neighbourhood swimming pools?
Yesterday the Minster of State at the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Deputy Flood, announced a drugs package. I have consistently supported his efforts in this regard in the House. The Minister of State announced a package of some £25 million of various facilities, amenities and personnel to divert young children from falling prey to the drug pushers, as has happened in so many of our worst ravaged urban communities. However, I do not support his position regarding an application from Jobstown, in his and my constituency, for a small neighbourhood pool. It was proposed that the pool be part of an infrastructure that is non-existent at present but one that might in the future prevent a new generation of children going the way of their predecessors.
The Minister of State is aware, as I am, of the extent of the drugs problem in this part of Dublin and Tallaght. I regret that his response was to announce a £5,000 feasibility study. The last thing we need is more studies. We know the situation on the ground and I had hoped that the package he announced, which I otherwise support and welcome, would have included the initiation of that pool.
The big gap in our approach to reducing the demand for drugs and to sports policy concerns youth facilities, especially in working class areas. It is a hugely neglected area of public policy under successive Governments. Now that the public finances happen to be in a propitious condition, the money is there to be put into the network of facilities that any other civilised country already has. It has been a neglected area. Existing swimming pools are in many instances in a run down, unkempt and, in some cases, unsafe condition.
