Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 December 2004
64 Mr. Gogarty asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the plans there are to provide a swimming pool for the Lucan area following the increase in budget for swimming pools in the Estimates for 2005. [31441/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are 55 projects that have been or are being dealt with in the current phase of the local authority swimming pool programme which closed to applicants on 31 July 2000. Thus far, 14 projects have been completed, a further eight are under construction and 33 more are at various stages of the preparatory process. The current programme does not include the provision of a swimming pool in Lucan as South Dublin County Council, which at that time proposed to provide a pool in Lucan on the basis of a public private partnership arrangement, did not submit an application by the closing date.
Although the local authority swimming pool programme remains closed, an expenditure review of the programme, which will assist in the formulation of policy for future programmes, is under way. This review is examining, among other things, how the programme has worked to date, the benefits which have accrued to the areas where pools have been built through the existing programme and what amendments, if any, are required to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of the programme. The potential contribution of options such as private sector involvement in the provision of swimming pool facilities will also be evaluated. The expenditure review is scheduled to be completed during the first half of 2005.
I apologise for being somewhat parochial and constituency orientated in this question. Is the Minister aware of the reason for the lack of a swimming pool in the Lucan area? South Dublin County Council was advised by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism that it could not make a submission for a public private partnership swimming pool until guidelines were published by the Department. In response to a question I tabled to the Minister about this, I was informed that, in general, swimming pools are not necessarily public private partnership concerns in the first instance. As a result of the two year delay, Lucan was late putting in an application through South Dublin County Council and it appears that it will not have a swimming pool for at least five years.
Lucan is the fastest growing town in Ireland. It has been badly planned, badly built and has no facilities. While towns such as Birr and Navan have swimming pools, Lucan is left behind. It must be made a special priority. Given the bureaucratic wrangling that took place and that a mess was made of a swimming pool application, will the Minister give a commitment to fast-track the swimming pool for Lucan in the next two or three years?
While the Deputy should, in my hard experience, always apologise for being general locally, he should never apologise for being local generally.
That is generally true.
There is no proposal for a swimming pool for Lucan with the Department at present. To set the record straight, early in 2000 South Dublin County Council wrote to the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, as it was then known, about developing swimming pool projects and to advise it of its intention to evolve an overall county council water leisure strategy. In response, the Department advised the council of the expanded new local authority swimming pool programme and that under no circumstances should a local authority proceed with a PPP proposal without prior approval from the Department. A pool project for Lucan was not indicated at that time and no application was made in respect of Lucan by South Dublin County Council before 31 July 2000, which was the deadline for receipt of applications under the programme.
In 2002, in response to a query about a possible Lucan project, the Department advised that any guidelines relating to the involvement of local authorities in a public private partnership approach for the procurement of swimming pools would be finalised in the context of launching a new programme. Local authorities would be advised by the Department when the new programme would be initiated. However, no such new programme was launched. If and when such a programme is launched, Lucan will be sympathetically considered at that point.
