TD makes renewed calls for swimming pool for North Kildare

A Fine Gael TD has made renewed calls in the Dáil for a swimming pool for Kildare North.

Deputy Joe Neville (FG) was speaking this week when 'Questions on Policy or Legislation' came before the House.

Deputy Neville told the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan (FG) that the swimming pool gap analysis report had recently come out, which showed there are “significant gaps” in the provision of swimming pools nationwide.

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He said: “The Minister is well aware of the swimming pool gap in north Kildare. As a councillor, I ensured a significant amount of funding was put in place for a pool but there is still a gap to be filled to reach the final cost.

“This is something we have discussed regularly. I am keen to provide a swimming pool for north Kildare. How can we ensure we get that off the ground in the new year with support from the Minister's Department?”

Responding to Deputy Neville, the Minister agreed there are “huge gaps” in relation to the number of swimming pools available across the country, particularly in large urban areas.

The Minister said: “What were once small villages are now massive towns with populations as big as Limerick city's. We need to invest in them.

“I made it very clear the other day that, where these projects are led and driven by local authorities and developed on local authority land, my Department will engage and liaise with those local authorities on the possibility of delivering them through the large-scale sports infrastructure fund.”