Vol. 466 No. 8
38 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment the total demands from local authorities for refurbishment of swimming pools; the assistance, if any, given by his Department in this respect in 1996; and if he will make a statement on the matter as regards the giving of extra resources to local authorities towards such expenses. [12332/96]
Existing commitments on five swimming pool refurbishment projectsamount to £1.54 million. In addition, 18 swimming pool refurbishment proposals at various stages of planing, have been submitted to my Department; these have a total estimated cost of £12.79 million.
A sum of £2 million has been provided in my Department's Estimates for 1996 for the building of new pools and the refurbishment of existing facilities. I expect that this provision will be fully expended on a total of nine refurbishment projects located at Athy, Ballyshannon, Fermoy, Mallow, Mullingar, Naas, Nenagh, Roxboro (Limerick City) and Tipperary Town, and new pools in Cavan and Enniscorthy.
