Vol. 549 No. 1
211 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the position of the application by the members of the committee of Loughrea swimming club towards the provision of facilities; if he will advance this application as a matter of urgency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5945/02]
Under the local authority swimming pool programme, which is administered by my Department, there are four stages in a swimming pool project. These, in order of progress are preliminary report, contract document, tender and construction. My Department's technical advisers, the Office of Public Works, evaluates each stage and local authorities cannot proceed to the next stage of a project unless prior approval issues from my Department. Grant aid is allocated only when tenders have been received for the project and will be capped at the time of allocation.
I gave approval for the appointment of consultants for the preliminary, design and construction stages for the proposed new swimming pool in Loughrea in January 2001. This proposal will be considered further on receipt of a preliminary report from Galway County Council.
