I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan to the House.

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. Scoil an Chroí Naofa in Ballinasloe was established in 1996 with an understanding at that time from the Department of Education that there would be a new school build. Families, teaching staff and the board itself have been waiting 28 years. This is a school with more than 300 children. It is really a shocking indictment of delays in the system. We have fantastic teaching support in the school but children and teachers are freezing every winter. These buildings date back to the thirties and sixties. This is where the children are. It is a DEIS level 1 school. Since I was elected as a councillor for the Ballinasloe municipal district in 2019, and as a Senator, I have raised capacity issues for this town. My very first Commencement matter was about Scoil an Chroí Naofa. Following that Commencement matter, we had the opportunity to meet with the Department of Education and with stakeholders in Galway County Council and there was a new impetus to drive a new application which changed from the 13 classrooms to 16 classrooms for Scoil an Chroí Naofa.

I have raised this issue of school capacity in Ballinasloe on multiple occasions, even most recently in November 2023. More than 130 families have just been allocated their new homes through the local authority but an additional 60 families from Ukraine are moving to Ballinasloe. This is since the census. I have worked with the former Minister of State in the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan, on two additional classrooms for Creagh National School, where there are 440 students and on four additional classrooms for St. Teresa's Special School. In my constituency in Roscommon-Galway there are just two special schools, of which St. Teresa's is one, which caters for a huge catchment area. I worked with Ardscoil Mhuire and the Gaelscoil with 200 pupils around accessing additional supports through DEIS funding. That meant more teachers and more SNAs on the ground. More than 1,000 children of primary school age and another 1,000 post-primary students are going to Ardscoil Mhuire and Garbally College. Once amalgamated, these two schools will become the brand new Clonfert College.

The Department of Education has indicated that this project in Scoil an Chroí Naofa is the most significant project for planned additional capacity. It will be a new 16-classroom school building that will have three classrooms for pupils with special educational needs. We have a wonderful design and proof for planning. I have seen the very basic design that went in for planning to Galway County Council but there are delays again. I am working closely with the principal Christine Connor and with the school board, including the patron Bishop Michael Duignan, but there is immense frustration with the lag here and the delays. There are obstacles to moving this project forward. It is still at design stage. It is 2024 and with each delay there is a failure to make a decision. Again, we do not have a school for children in our town.

This responsibility lies with the building section and the design team in the Department. Our school board is driving this project forward but there has been frustration at each point. On 21 September 2023, planning permission was granted by Galway County Council. On 22 March 2024, a revised design was approved by the Department of Education. On 26 April 2024, the council itself indicated approval of the design submission from the Department. The design team now has to move this project to the tender stage and from that tender stage comes the letter of acceptance and the letter of intent so that we get a budget to actually build this school. This is a DEIS level 1 school for pupils in Ballinasloe as well as children travelling from counties Galway, Roscommon, Offaly and Westmeath. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is taking this commencement on behalf of the Minister Deputy Foley, but I want to ask the Minister when this school will get built. I want a date. We have been driving this for the past four to five years, since I was elected a public representative, and still I stand here as a Senator fighting for this. I will stand here as a public representative, be it as a Senator or as TD, and I will fight for this project. I want the Minister to tell us when we will have a date, a timeline and what resources are being allocated to this project.

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. It provides me with an opportunity to outline to the Seanad the current position on the major building project for Scoil an Chroí Naofa in Ballinasloe, on behalf of the Minister for Education. I hear the frustration in the Senator's opening contribution and I acknowledge it is a long road for the school to have waited this long for this project to be developed. The major building project for Scoil an Chroí Naofa is included in the Department of Education’s construction programme, which is being delivered under the national development plan. The brief for this project is a new school building to cater for 16 mainstream classrooms plus three classrooms for children with special educational needs. The Senator will be assured that the major building project for Scoil an Chroí Naofa, Ballinasloe, is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning, stage 2(b), which includes the application for statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documents.

The major building project for Scoil an Chroi Naofa, Ballinasloe, is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning. The Senator will be assured to hear that stage 2(b) includes an application for statutory approvals and preparation of tender documents. A scope change to increase the number of classrooms and proposals from the local authority to order road and access layouts at the school site, necessitated a new planning application to be submitted for the project. We appreciate that is a complex piece of work in terms of road infrastructure and increasing capacity.

The final grant of planning permission for the project, as currently designed, was received from the local authority in September 2023 and reviewed by the Department of Education. The design team must prepare and submit a full stage 2(b) submission, based on the terms of the planning permission granted in September 2023. A revised or new disability access certificate and fire safety certificate application will be required as part of this process.

Officials from the Department have provided comments to the design team to inform stage 2(b), detailed design, submission, and stage 2(b) submission will be reviewed by the Department of Education's professional and technical team upon receipt. The design team are currently reviewing the programme for the completed stage 2(b) and will inform the school authorities and the Department once it has an estimated date for submission of stage 2(b). On completion of this, a design meeting of all stakeholders will be organised. Again, I appreciate the frustration of the school board, school staff, teaching staff and principal. This is a long-standing project, but I hope that from this contribution, we make significant progress to try and get construction on-site as soon as possible.

I appreciate that the Minister of State is taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Education but the Department has responsibility to the families in that school and the people of Ballinasloe. It said itself that is the most significant project the town needs. I do not see the urgency. I would like the Minister of State to ask the Department what resources are being allocated to this. What other projects are on the design team's plate? Where is the priority being given to this project for Ballinasloe that is to cater for children from counties all around? It is not good enough. It is words; where is the action?

I am frustrated because it has been non-stop. We did this in 2021 and we got the approval in 2023, yet here we are a year later. When is a budget going to be allocated to this project? When will we have it from the design team? I want to ask about communication because there are issues here around this. We need improved communication between the Department, the design team and the stakeholders. I ask the Minister of State to please take this message back. I want to know when that meeting is and when that design team will submit the tenders for the Department of Education's consideration.

As I said in my opening reply, we are at an advanced stage here. As the Senator will appreciate, the addition of extra classrooms is based on it serving a wider hinterland with increased population, an intake of families from Ukraine and the road redesign. All these elements are complex in nature and require significant consideration. I will convey the Senator's frustration and the frustration of the community to the Minister. It is also important that there is effective communication of where the project is at and where we see the timeline moving towards completion of consideration of stage 2(b), design. I will take those back to the Minister, and by raising this this morning, it will put an added impetus behind the project.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I acknowledge that my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, has apologised that he could not be here, nor was a Minister of State in the Department available to discuss this issue. I ask that the Minister make a statement on the access to cancer drugs and treatment for private and public patients. I want to shine a light on important issues that require immediate attention. It is a hugely concerning matter that within our healthcare system, there exists a glaring disparity in access to cancer drugs and treatments. This inequity has become increasingly pronounced as private health insurance holders gain immediate access to lifesaving treatments, while public patients are left waiting in uncertainty. The stark reality is that patients with private health insurance are often able to bypass waiting lists, expedite their treatment process and secure access to vital cancer drugs. Meanwhile, public patients, who do not have the same financial means, are left to navigate through prolonged waiting periods and face uncertainties about their health and well-being.

I read a report in the Irish Examiner about oncologists in Galway such as Dr. Michael McCarthy, who stated that up to 2023, the only difference between public and private hospitals was the speed of access to certain procedures, but not access to treatments. That is access to vital lifesaving treatments, and the potential of the difference between life and death. Ireland had a proud record in treating cancer, but this is a retrograde step. We all understand the issue, because it is personal to many of us. Cancer is the biggest killer in Ireland. It accounts for approximately 30% of deaths every year. An estimated 42,000 people in Ireland get cancer every year and more than 9,620 people die every year from cancer.

Let us imagine a situation where we have preventable deaths from cancer occurring because a person does not have health insurance. We cannot stand over it and we cannot accept this. Ireland is at the bottom of the latest European table when it comes to access to new cancer medicines, ranking 29th among the 36 European states regarding the median time for reimbursement of oncology drugs. This clearly demonstrates the need for speedier reimbursement timeframes for cancer medicines. Based on the website for the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, it can be estimated that 24 European Medicines Agency, EMA, approved IV oncology products across 33 indications sought public reimbursement between 2021 and 2023 but had not been approved by the end of 2023. My plea is for an early access pathway for new life-changing cancer medicines that is introduced with haste.

Ireland needs to pool bids for new drugs more often with other countries. We have previous examples of this. Data shows that 40% of new drugs are not even offered to the HSE by pharma companies, due to our small population. Too many patients are missing out on medicines that are routinely available in other countries, including Northern Ireland. Currently, the reimbursement system and lengthy approval timelines do not put patients at the centre of the process. I accept and appreciate that the Minister is working to improve the reimbursement system but the improvements are not being seen quickly enough. When we see politicians week in and week out in these Houses pleading to get access to certain drugs and treatments for a constituent, it is glaringly obvious that the system is broken.

We need to look at what other countries are doing, for example, France, and see what we can use here. The Haute Autorité de Santé, HAS, system in France allows innovative medicines in areas of high unmet need to be reimbursed rapidly, within three months of EMA approval by temporary fast-track pathway while the full HDA normal assessment continues

I thank the Senator for raising this important commencement matter. As she stated, I am taking this question on behalf of my colleague, Minister for Health. The Government is committed to the ongoing implementation of the national cancer strategy and the delivery of quality care for cancer patients. The Government also acknowledges the importance of access to medicines and has made considerable investments in new medicines in recent years.

Last year, a record of more than €3 billion in public funding was spent on medicines for patients in Ireland. This represents almost €1 of every €8 spent by the State on healthcare. This is in the context of overall total allocation of the health service for 2024 of €22.5 billion. Budgets 2021, 2022 and 2023 included dedicated funding for new medicines of €98 million. This has enabled the HSE to approve reimbursement for 148 medicines or licence extensions, including 61 for treating cancer and 39 for treating rare diseases. In addition, the Minister secured funding in budget 2024 for an additional 34 staff across the pricing and reimbursement process. These measures will enable the assessment of a greater number of medicines at a quicker pace and ensure that patients can easily remain informed on progress.

I am pleased to confirm that hiring of these additional staff has now commenced, however, expenditure has grown rapidly, and we must ensure that sustainability of medicines expenditure. We must strive to maximise the available investment and provide as many people as possible with access to medicines that they need. In this context, there are policy and operational options being pursued and will be intensified including, for example, maximising the use of generic and bio-similiar medicines across community and hospital settings. The Senator also made positive suggestions in her opening commentary. Budget 2024 made €30 million available for new drugs.

Of this sum, €20 million has been invested directly by the Government and €10 million has come from efficiencies to be identified by the HSE. This funding has enabled the HSE to approve reimbursement for 13 new medicines so far in 2024.

As regards private health insurance, this is a voluntary, community-rated market, which is underpinned by certain principles, including minimum benefit, that are set out in law. The Health Insurance Act 1994 (Minimum Benefit) Regulations 1996 require insurers to offer a minimum level of cover to every insured person. The Minister does not have a role in the commercial decision-making of any private health insurer.

Private health insurance companies operate as commercial entities in a competitive private health insurance market. Beyond prescribing under the regulations the minimum level of coverage that health insurers must provide, the State is not in a position to direct any insurer to provide cover for any particular procedure, service or medicine, or direct how that cover is to be provided. Insurers are free to provide treatments beyond what is provided for in these regulations or what is approved for use in public hospitals.

I stress that Ireland is absolutely open for business and welcomes pricing and reimbursement applications from all marketing authorisation holders for all newly approved medicines. I note the points the Senator made about Ireland’s market being small. The Minister is committed to working to improve the reimbursement system. The Senator’s point about learning from other jurisdictions is important too.

I reiterate my plea. I do not disagree with anything the Minister of State said but we must have an early-access pathway. We must pool bids with other countries and look at what they are doing. We must also look at ourselves as a State, country and Government. There is a moral and ethical issue here. Will we be able to stand over a situation where people with money can get treatment while people who do not have money cannot get treatment? I do not think the Government or State wants to stand over some poor family saying they could not afford health insurance and their loved one died whereas Johnny down the road could afford it and he is living, thriving and surviving and benefiting the State by being a healthy cancer survivor. That is a larger issue that the Government must take on. I accept that private health insurers have their own market but we have an obligation to the people of this island.

I agree wholeheartedly with the Senator on this. I assure her that the Minister for Health appreciates the importance of ensuring patients in Ireland have prompt and equitable access to the latest drugs. This is why the State has made considerable investments in new medicines in recent years. Over €3 billion of public funding was spent on medicines for patients in Ireland last year. Since 2021, we have provided the budget to allow the HSE to approve reimbursement of 148 medicines or licence extensions, including 61 for cancer. Budget 2024 will make €30 million available for new drugs. This has enabled the HSE to approve reimbursement for 13 new medicines so far this year.

As I noted, in Ireland we have a voluntary community-rated health insurance market and the Government, including the Minister for Health, does not have any direct role in the day-to-day commercial decisions of the health insurers. Again, I note on behalf of the Minister the points the Senator made about early-access pathways. Outcomes are improving for cancer care in Ireland. However, in the spirit of Sláintecare, it should not be a two-tier system. It should be equitable for everybody and not based on ability to pay.

I welcome the Minister of State. We have a very strong track record with regard to the youth justice strategy and youth diversion projects. They make absolute sense. It is proven that people are more likely to take risks when they are younger and more likely to want to please their peers. Neurologically that is proven. When they get older that likelihood drops steeply. We want to avoid detention as much as possible. However, the figures show that those between 18 and 24 years are disproportionately represented in prisons. They account for 20% of the prison population compared with 9% of the general population.

There is widespread support for extending youth diversion projects to 24-year-olds. In Blanchardstown, Foróige offers services to all groups in our youth work strategy from eight to 24 years, including family support. Those services are brilliant and the youth workers we have in Dublin west are incredible. However, we also want the public to have confidence in our youth justice strategy. From knocking on doors and being on the ground, I can say there is concern about lower level youth crime, persistent anti-social behaviour and a perceived lack of consequences for youth offenders. That is across the board in Dublin west.

Youth workers have told me they have never felt more under pressure. I have looked at the figures and they concern me. In the past five years, funding for our 23 Dublin Garda youth diversion projects has increased by a massive 143% but the number of participants has only increased by 11%. Funding stood at €5.18 million in 2019 and that increased to €12.6 million in 2023. The number of participants has increased from 1,092 in 2019 to 1,212 in 2023. Those are figures I received from the Department of Justice. Questions arise regarding value for money where there is spiralling funding but a diminishing return.

With my critical hat on, I ask if youth diversion projects are integrated sufficiently into wider community safety plans and universal youth services. As far as I am concerned, youth diversion projects and programmes alone cannot drive a youth justice strategy. We need community-wide involvement along with services and facilities. We also need funding for universal youth services. It concerns me that while we have seen this increase in targeted services, conversely funding for universal youth services has remained stagnant since 2008. When it comes to youth services, it should not be the case that intervention comes at a point where there is a risk of criminal behaviour. We need youth services to have touch points across the board with our young people. That means having an integrated youth services landscape.

I ask the Minister to take a critical eye and think about public confidence, value for money and the youth sector in general.

I thank the Senator. This is a really important question on an area I worked in previously and in which I have some experience. On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, I thank the Senator for raising this matter.

Our approach to youth justice in Ireland is that children who come into contact with the criminal justice system are still children. Youth diversion projects, YDPs, are community-based, youth crime prevention initiatives which seek to divert young people who have been or are at risk of becoming involved in anti-social and-or criminal behaviour.

A top priority for the Department of Justice is the expansion and deepening of the services offered to young people by the YDPs, which are fully funded by the Department. On average, the YDPs engage with about 4,000 young people across the State in any one year. Last year, the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, published the first evaluation report of the YDPs to help further our understanding of the structure, conduct and impacts of our youth diversion projects.

The report noted the very positive work ongoing in the YDPs already, including strong governance and high levels of engagement from participants and their families. Several areas for improvement were also identified, including better availability of YDPs at weekends and maximising the use of administrative data and other research to inform service development. It is clear that the positive impacts of YDPs are being felt by participants, families and the wider community. The evaluation identified decreasing risk levels among participants in respect of peer relations, leisure and recreation, personality and behaviour, and attitudes and orientation.

The Minister for Justice is committed to ensuring that every young person in the State who needs these services has access to them. Considerable work is being done to expand our network of YDPs to achieve full nationwide coverage.

This includes the establishment of a number of new youth diversion projects, as well as expanding the catchment area of existing projects. The Senator mentioned the uplift in recent budgets. That is most welcome. In budget 2024, the funding allocated to overall youth justice services increased by 10% to €33 million. This is facilitating an increase in the availability of YDP services in the evenings and at the weekends when many young people need them the most. It is also to provide for an increase in supports for families, hard-to-reach young people and early interventions for eight to 11-year-olds who may be at increased risk of engaging in criminal activity. We have seen, in line with the increases in youth justice funding in recent years, a similar increase in the number of YDP participants each year since 2021. Last year, 4,251 young people participated in YDP projects. As well as being the right thing to do, it is worth noting that every cent invested in our youth diversion projects will pay back in the long run. In 2024, we spent approximately €6,773 per young person participating in the YDPs. The annual cost of sending someone to prison in 2022 was over €84,000. The annual cost of detaining a child in Oberstown is over half a million euro.

The work of YDPs benefits everybody in our communities promoting pro-social activities and outcomes for young people at risk of lives of criminality. The youth diversion projects not only divert young people away from crime, they work to foster young people's talents and interest in personal development. These projects provide an essential resource to support the work of An Garda Síochána in addressing youth crime and protecting local communities. I note the Senator's stark points in terms of the uplift of the budget versus the slower rate of uptake in the YDPs themselves. The Senator has a point in respect of the capacity of universal youth services to be able to deliver. That is something I had a conversation with Ossory Youth in Kilkenny about recently. With regard to the administration and staffing of youth services generally, there is a challenge there that we need to look at in budget 2025 about the broader interaction of youth diversion projects within the universal youth services that are provided. That is something about which I will speak to the Ministers, Deputies McEntee and O'Gorman, and the Minister of State, Deputy Browne. There is a bigger challenge there about the integration element and ensuring that there are pathways for young people out of Garda youth diversion and into other youth services to help them on their onward journeys and paths. That is hugely important. There is a challenge around youth services generally in the country, given the increased demand they have and the services they provide.

I thank the Minister of State and appreciate him agreeing with me that these figures are worrying. They are startling. I completely support youth diversion programmes, the work of expanding them and measures on the ground in terms of access at the weekends, the strategies with hard-to-reach children and the widening of the age eligibility. We have a question to answer around how that funding is being used. Based on my figures in Dublin, it has gone from €4,700 per participant in 2019 to over €10,000 in 2023. It cannot just be about the services at this level, UBU or the youth diversion projects. It has to be with a holistic view. There is a role here for local community safety partnerships and better integration of youth workers with the wider community. That is going to be really important. There have to be enough youth facilities and services for young people. I benefited from youth work when I was younger. Having that volunteer ethos, having youth workers that are a part of a community is invaluable. Their work is invaluable. We need to see increased funding in universal youth services also.

I agree with everything the Senator is saying. The Minister of State, Deputy Browne, has been proactive in terms of addressing issues such as looking at a review of YDPs. Generally, the uplift in funding has been welcomed but those figures presented by the Senator are significant. I note that the Department of Justice is partnered with the University of Limerick on a trial approach. The implementation of a joint commissioning approach to a no-wrong-door approach to a youth justice strategy to address the situations of young people with really complex needs is to be most welcomed. We will take on board the points the Senator is making about the wider integration of youth services, the role that the local community safety partnerships could have in a wider sphere, as well as the general issue of capacity of youth services to deliver. I do not just mean YDPs but a much more broad and complex set of services to young people, including mental health, well-being and all of these services. There is increasing demand for these services with increasing numbers of young people. Is the question of capacity to deliver among youth services generally the nub of what the Senator getting at this morning?

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, for taking so many of our Commencement matters this morning.

The Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, is very welcome here today. He is taking the Commencement matter for Senator Lombard.

The Minister of State is more than welcome. It is great to have an opportunity to have the Minister of State responsible for sport deal with this issue. The issue that I am asking the Minister of State to make a statement about is the national swimming strategy. The national swimming strategy was based on a document published and the title was about everyone in Ireland having the opportunity to swim. That strategy is a key document and proposal to make sure that everyone has the opportunity and the ability to swim. It is a key focus of the Government.

In 2022 to 2023, a sports action plan was put in place by the Minister of State’s predecessor, the Minister, Deputy Chambers. This was a significant document that outlined nearly 40 different elements that needed to be looked at, throughout the entire sporting sector, taking into consideration that we were recovering from Covid-19. It was about trying to make sure that we can promote swimming and that we have the ability and the infrastructure to ensure that everybody has the opportunity to get this skill for life, which is so important. Swimming is the second most popular participation sport in Ireland. Personal exercise is the only one ahead and with women, it is the number one sport. In the case of people with disabilities, it also is the number one activity.

As I said, it is a key skill for life and has major benefits around physical health, fitness, well-being and mental health. These things are all really important. The Minister of State had the opportunity to be in my part of the world a few weeks ago and he knows what we have. We have a wonderful coastline and beautiful scenery but access to swimming pools is the key issue. It was discussed in a meeting in Kinsale we both attended recently. We need to have the infrastructure required to ensure that parents can get lessons. We have a significant issue in making sure that parents have the opportunity to get lessons for their kids. There is a frustration, to say the least, that it is a lottery system and I will give an example. When it comes to Dunmanway, the swimming pool is owned by Cork County Council. When the news trickles out that they are taking on more people for swimming lessons, the phones clog up and they are filled within 25 minutes of the proposal being sent out. This is because of the great need that is in the community and there is a significant need there. We all have been on a waiting list for some time regarding that issue. This is about trying to make sure that we have the appropriate infrastructure to get these swimming lessons in place. There is no swimming pool in Bandon, the biggest town in west Cork. That is an amazing statistic. I do not understand how, why or where. We need to make sure that towns like that had the opportunity to get the infrastructure required.

The last point I will make is that we have a lovely coastline. More needs to be done about trying to promote sea swimming in particular and sea swimming lessons. I am speaking about what is happening in Oysterhaven down by Kinsale. Imelda Lynch runs an amazing course there at the moment, where people are getting into the water and these are young people, older and everyone in between. We need to do more to promote that side of the house so people have the opportunity to get in to the sea. It is about access to the infrastructure and the lessons and coming back to my core point on the national swimming strategy. Where is it, what can we do and how can we make sure that it is suitable to make certain that the majority of society have the opportunity to learn to swim.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Lombard agus na Seanadóirí uilig as ucht an deis seo a thabhairt dom labhairt le Seanadóirí faoin straitéis snámha náisiúnta.

As was said, swimming is our second most popular participation sport and has the potential to be truly inclusive for all in society. It engages the young and old alike, allows for full participation, including those with physical, mental or sensory considerations, and provides options for diverse communities and minority groups to participate. The National Sports Policy 2018-2027 and the Sports Action Plan 2021-2023 commit to the development of a national swimming strategy. Swimming is also prioritised in the current programme for Government in recognition of its role.

A working group was established in 2022 and tasked with establishing and developing the first national swimming strategy. It included representatives from the relevant national governing bodies and organisations. Extensive stakeholder and public engagement has allowed for a wide range of viewpoints in shaping the strategy. More than 5,800 submissions were received during the public consultation process, which is testament to the popularity of the sport and the critical role it can play in our physical health and mental well-being. Work on the strategy was recently completed. I am pleased to inform the House that the new strategy was approved by the Government yesterday. I intend to publish it in the coming weeks.

The strategy sets out a vision to provide everyone in the country with an opportunity to swim. It covers both indoor and outdoor swimming and takes account of all ages and abilities. It includes an action plan containing more than 50 actions across five thematic strands. People with disabilities and those who are marginalised or disadvantaged face barriers to participating in swimming. The strategy seeks to identify and address those barriers and encourage more inclusion and diversity, thus increasing levels of participation among those cohorts. Actions in the strategy include developing resources to help stakeholders to improve the culture of inclusion and increasing access for people with disabilities.

With regard to infrastructure and facilities, the public consultation suggests that existing swimming pool stock is insufficient and an analysis of current provision is proposed to identify gaps. The traditional single-purpose facilities model needs to be reviewed and reimagined to incorporate modern innovations such as above-ground and pop-up pools, as well as shared multipurpose facilities. Energy conservation, in addition to environmental and climate action considerations, will be central to future facilities development.

Evidence suggests that early childhood is the best time to learn how to swim, which in turn can increase the levels of lifelong participation. The strategy, therefore, tries to support additional opportunities for young people to access lessons; ensure best use of pool times for lessons and coaching; address challenges in recruiting and retaining swimming instructors; and further embed the provision of aquatics and water safety as components of school curriculums.

Outdoor or open water swimming has experienced a surge in popularity over the past number of years. Safety was a key concern raised by open water swimmers in the public consultation process, therefore, enhancing the dissemination of information to facilitate informed choices as to when and where people swim is key to encouraging greater participation. Other actions in the strategy in respect of open water swimming include the development of suitable facilities for changing and showering, enabling equal access, improved waste and recycling facilities, and a stakeholder forum.

The life journey for swimming will differ between participants who swim for recreation and those who follow a more competitive path. Aquatic clubs have a critical role to play in ensuring continued participation and providing a pathway that allows for the nurturing and development of potential high performers. Actions in the strategy include supports to grow participation throughout the life cycle, grow club membership numbers, develop vibrant competition structures, and strengthen relationships between facility owners and operators and swimming clubs.

The strategy will identify and develop targets and outputs that will help measure the successful delivery or otherwise of the tasks involved in the action plan and will inform future iterations and developments around swimming. The strategy is intended to be a live document that will respond to challenges and opportunities as they present over the life cycle of its duration. I thank the members of the working group tasked with the strategy’s development. The result is a truly collaborative strategic vision that will strengthen and support the sustainable growth and development of swimming in Ireland in future years.

I was not aware that the strategy was approved by the Government yesterday. I thank the Minister of State for bringing that information to the House. It is very important that we have the publication of this document-----

It is not published yet. It was approved yesterday.

It is very important that once it is published we have the opportunity for the Minister of State to come to the House. He might give us some time to discuss this very important strategy. It is very important that everyone be given the opportunity and ability to swim. Lessons are also very important.

The Minister of State referred to the issue of swimming pool stock being insufficient. That is very obvious. The real key in that regard is to have a capital project to make sure that local authorities or private entities can build the swimming pools that are required. That will involve something from the Department in respect of sports capital or another mechanism that I assume it will examine. The Minister of State might also give his views on the issue of pop-up pools, which was brought forward by Swim Ireland back in the day. I totally understand I am putting him on the spot. I appreciate that, but it is highly significant that there has been such significant movement in a very short space of time on this. What are his thoughts on what funding is required and what the nature of pop-up pools could be? It might be beneficial to the House and the general public to hear that.

When I was appointed Minister of State for sport, I was deeply conscious of the number of actions that needed to be done as part of the programme for Government. This is one very important action. I have made sure that it has happened. These things take time but it has to happen.

Swimming pools also take time to build. When I arrived at the Department, I saw a budget line of €3 million for a swimming pool fund. It may have been more. That budget was granted nearly 20 years ago. It has not been done for various reasons, one of which is local authorities are not prioritising it. If I were to give a simple answer as to why there is no swimming pool in Bandon, for example, it is because Cork County Council decided it is not a priority. Someone said it was not going to do one there. We have changed sports capital to allow for swimming pool renovations. It is not the most attractive thing politically to give money for the stuff you do not see at the back, but it is essential to keep swimming pools open and up to date.

We have the large scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. I am sure there are some swimming pool applications as part of that. There were previously, but some of the major projects have not been developed by the local authorities that applied for the funding. There have been significant multimillions in funding, including in County Galway where there was a major swimming pool plan, but it has not happened. Someone will have to take responsibility for that. We give the money. We have awarded lots of money and we want to do more of that. I certainly hope that some of the swimming projects in the current LSSIF come through. We want to fund swimming facilities. We acknowledge that there are gaps. There is a lot of work to do. Local authorities will have to take responsibility, as they used to. They come knocking on our doors looking for funding and when we give it, they should spend it.

I thank the Minister of State and Senator Lombard.