Vol. 483 No. 6
454 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if he will give details of the proposals, if any, which he has received to date in 1997 regarding a 50 metre swimming pool; and the terms of the competition which he intends to conduct. [21585/97]
In its Action Programme for the Millennium the Government states that it "will invite proposals for a National 50 metre swimming pool project" and as I announced in a press statement on 27 November last I will be advertising in the media shortly for proposals to develop such a facility. I will be inviting applicants to specify, in particular, how they plan to meet the training needs of our high-performance swimmers, as part of the minimum criteria for the project.
In advance of this invitation to submit proposals I have received a number of approaches from bodies expressing interest in developing such a facility. It will be open to all such bodies to respond to the forthcoming advertisement.
