Vol. 537 No. 4
31 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if, in regard to the commitment given in the review of An Action Programme for the Millennium, he will give the amount allocated to date to local authorities for refurbishment of existing swimming pools and construction of new pools; the number of new pools constructed; the number of pools refurbished; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16199/01]
In giving effect to the commitment outlined in the review of An Action Programme for the Millennium I have secured £45 million funding for an accelerated programme of investment over the three year period 2000 to 2002 in the refurbishment and provision of new pools under the local authority swimming pool programme. The package effectively increased the annual budget from £3 million per annum to £15 million per year over the period.
Under the swimming pool programme grants of up to £3 million are available towards both the refurbishment of existing pools and the provision of new pools, subject in both cases to the total grant not exceeding 80% of the eligible cost of the project or, in the case of projects located in designated disadvantaged areas, 90% of the eligible cost. There are four stages in the approval process for a swimming pool project and my Department gives consideration to progressing each proposal to the next stage in the context of funding available.
A total of 51 proposals were submitted to my Department by local authorities under this accelerated swimming pool programme by last year's closing date of 31 July 2000. Decisions have been made in the case of five proposals and the remaining 46 proposals are at various stages of the approval process. As many as 26 of these proposals relate to the construction of new or replacement pools while a further 20 relate to the refurbishment of existing pools.
While no project has been completed to date under the 2000 programme, the Deputy should be aware that under the local authority swimming pool programme new pools have been built already or are under construction at Ennis, Dundalk, Navan, Gorey-Courtown, Wicklow town, Renmore and Enniscorthy. Refurbishments have been completed or are currently being undertaken in Arklow, Monaghan, Roscommon, Waterford Tipperary, Newcastle West and Mullingar.
