I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I know it is something he is committed to. We have spoken about it before. Encouraging clubs to collaborate particularly with local authorities under a municipal approach could deliver significant benefits to sporting organisations and opportunities for people in local communities to engage in sport across the country and, from the Deputy’s perspective, in County Galway in particular. We all know the importance of sport to the well-being and health of our local communities. The availability and ease of access to sports facilities is central to that, whether in a club setting, on public lands or in other amenity areas. Planning for future facilities needs, locations and types is a particular focus of our current sports action plan. In the past, there was not a particular weighting in the sports capital grants towards municipal facilities. There has been support where people are collaborating but, with the sports capital grants reopening next spring, we will look at how we can try to incentivise clubs to come together and, indeed, local authorities to work together too to support that objective. Accessing land is a particular challenge, especially in some of our cities but also across the country. This is something we will reflect on. There is no funding for land at the moment but we want to develop and structure the next sports capital grants in a way that incentivises people to come together, particularly in respect of existing land that local authorities have, as well as looking at land that schools might have. Secondary or primary schools that need sporting facilities might have land and we can encourage them to collaborate with local sporting clubs in a way that maximises and leverages the investment for everyone in the community and makes sure it is accessible at different times of day. I look forward to engaging with the Deputy further on any ideas he has on how we can best do that. We want to make a real impact through this approach.

Sentiment score: 0.38

We have asked Sport Ireland to conduct an exercise to assess gaps in particular sporting facilities around the country in order that we get an overall sense of what the facilities are in different areas and are able to factor that into our future sports capital considerations and announcements. My experience, and I am sure the Deputy’s too, is that almost all clubs across all sports are under pressure for space. We had seen very significant uptake in participation, with a significant closing of the gender gap in terms of female participation, which is really important, as well as across age groups and youth participation in many different sports. However, that is putting pressure on playing facilities. I rarely visit a sports club which is comfortable with the space and facilities it has for the demand it has. We need to continue to invest across all sports but we also need to look at where the acute needs are and factor that into the considerations. The work Sport Ireland is doing will be important in informing us around that.

Sentiment score: 0.19

We will look at all of this. I want to ensure that our local authorities are thinking seriously about sporting facilities in their planning for an area and their use of land, particularly existing land. I also want to ensure our schools are thinking about how they can collaborate with sporting clubs. While land is a challenge, there is a lot of latent potential in the land we have. In the past, we did not put enough focus on getting people to co-operate and collaborate and to think how they can work together to develop facilities. We will be considering that very strongly in advance of decisions on the structure of the next sports capital grant, along with consideration of where the acute gaps are. Deputy Connolly has been speaking to me on a number of projects in Galway. He wants to see real progress there and he has ideas about how we can try to promote this. I look forward to working and engaging with the Deputy as well as with others to see how we can best make sure the sports investment we are putting in makes the biggest impact at local level.

Sentiment score: 0.34

I know from having spoken to the Deputy that he is very committed to the post office network and wants to see it developed. I thank him for raising the matter. As he is aware, the Government is committed to a sustainable An Post and post office network which, as we all know, is a key component of the economic and social infrastructure of communities across the country. The programme for Government states that the Government will continue to provide the nationwide network of post offices with funding to ensure their sustainability and enhance the value they bring to local communities. My Department is working to deliver on this and is engaging with relevant stakeholders on funding. In addition, my Department is working with Government colleagues to secure future funding in line with the programme for Government. As the Deputy knows, €10 million per annum is currently being provided to An Post over a three-year fixed term, which is due to end at the end of this year. An Post then disperses this funding across the post office network, with all contractor post offices benefiting from the funding with the objective of securing their stability and that of the network. The funding is being paid monthly for each 12-month period. There has been over €23 million claimed by An Post for the period 2023 to the end of April 2025 for the network. As we know, An Post is a commercial State body with the mandate to act commercially and has statutory responsibility for the State's postal service and network. Decisions relating to the network, including decisions relating to specific post offices, are operational matters for the board and management of the company and not an area in which I, as Minister of State, have any function. The postmasters' contract with An Post is a matter for postmasters and An Post and any negotiations are a matter for the parties. The role of Government is very important, which we recognise. We have recognised that with a €10 million investment. The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, and I are involved in the budgetary process in order to seek to renew that. We are very committed to making sure the contract is renewed and we do everything possible to make sure post offices stay open and are strongly supported across the country.

Sentiment score: 0.25

We will continue to determine how we can ensure we utilise and maximise the post office network in terms of providing face-to-to face services to local communities. As he knows, in many small villages post offices are the last remaining face-to-face service. They provide important services in towns of all sizes, in particular small towns. We want to make sure that we examine how we can utilise the network to the best capacity possible. We also recognise the importance of making sure that post offices are viable and provide an economically viable income for postmasters. That is why over the past three years we have delivered €10 million per year. We are committed to making sure we renew that funding. We have engaged with the stakeholders and the budgetary process, subject to budgetary considerations, to make sure we continue to support post offices. I was glad to attend the Irish Postmasters Union annual conference recently and engage with it on its ideas. It is something on which Deputy McCarthy has very strong views which he has made very clear. I look forward to continuing to work with him and other Deputies to ensure we support the network.

Sentiment score: 0.48

We are very clear on the importance of Government funding and the three-year contract to make sure post offices are sustained. I have no doubt we would have seen closures over the past three years if it had not been for the Government stepping up to the mark. We are also very clear on the importance of us continuing to step up and support the network. We have received a submission from the postmasters' union on the renewal of the contract. There are state aid considerations and that technical work is being worked through and fully assessed. It will involve engagement on the part of the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, and I with the Department of public expenditure. We are very clear on the importance of the network and ensuring that it is supported, along with the importance of Government funding to support the network. We will continue to liaise with the postmasters' union and An Post on this. The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, and I will continue to work hard on the budgetary process and with Oireachtas Members, of whom Deputy McCarthy is very much at the forefront in this regard, to ensure the post office network is maintained and kept economically viable and sustainable.

Sentiment score: 0.30

I thank Deputy Carthy. As he knows, capital support for new swimming pools and the refurbishment of existing pools continues to be provided by the Department through the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF, which to date has allocated €28.9 million to nine swimming pools throughout the country. Investment in a swimming pool for Monaghan, as the Deputy knows, is a matter for the local authority in the first instance. Once the next round of the LSSIF opens, Monaghan County Council will be eligible to apply for funding. Ireland’s first national swimming strategy, which was published in August 2024, sets out a vision to provide everyone in our country with an opportunity to swim. It includes an action plan containing more than 50 actions across five thematic strands, focusing on providing improved facilities, increasing access for people with disabilities and improving the culture of inclusion, better coaching supports, increasing safety awareness and providing a pathway that allows for the nurturing and development of potential high performers. Responsibility for the delivery of the strategy’s action plan will be shared across Departments, State agencies and other key stakeholders, including local authorities. Sport Ireland has established an oversight group of key stakeholders to give leadership, policy direction, prioritisation and mobilisation of resources to support, monitor and measure the strategy’s implementation. My current focus is on ensuring project delivery under the first two rounds of the LSSIF, from 2019 and 2024. There have only ever been two rounds. I would expect, and it is our objective, that the period until the next round of the LSSIF will be shorter than the period between the previous two. There were five years between the previous two. There was a significant gap in funding infrastructure until that large-scale sport infrastructure fund was introduced. It will be subject to our capital allocations within the national development plan. Within a much shorter timeframe, we hope to be able to run a new round. Monaghan County Council should work to have its preparation in place in order to be able to apply whenever it opens.

Sentiment score: 0.25

The first requirement is for the county council to be proactive. While I certainly will be proactive in trying to ensure we secure funding and deliver swimming pools throughout the country, we will only be able to deal with applications that are on our desk. It is highly likely we will not be able to deal with every application, given the level of demand, but we will be doing our best to see real development in this regard. There is no doubt there are significant gaps in swimming pool infrastructure throughout the country. Swimming is the only national sport at the moment that has a dedicated national strategy, the national swimming strategy, which was published approximately one year ago. As part of that strategy, one of the action points was to develop a sense and audit of the swimming pool facilities across the country. Swim Ireland is undertaking that audit. It is assessing where swimming pool facilities and the most significant gaps are. That will inform how we step out to try to address that. We want to get to a situation where everyone has the opportunity to be able to access facilities and learn to swim. We want people to be able to participate in swimming throughout their life, both in Monaghan and throughout the country.

Sentiment score: 0.26

As the Deputy knows, we had a round recently in which almost 30 projects across the country were grant-aided under the large-scale support infrastructure fund, LSSIF. The focus on the short term is to work with all of those applications that were successful in the recent round, as well as with a good number from 2019, to ensure that they are progressing, that funding is getting drawn down and that we see those facilities built. Some swimming pools are a part of that. We hope to have the next round in a shorter timeframe than the five-year gap between the last two rounds. It remains to be seen what that timeframe will be. I encourage Monaghan County Council to ensure it gets its preparations in place to be in a position to apply at that point. In the meantime, I will be working with Sport Ireland and Swim Ireland to get a full assessment as to where the gaps are across the country. We will then look at how to ensure we get as much funding as possible to develop swimming pools throughout the country and open up applications in order that Monaghan County Council and other councils will be able to apply for pools. We will look to see where we can plug gaps to ensure everyone gets the opportunity to swim, particularly young people. It is about them having that opportunity earlier in their lives to be able to learn to swim in order that they can continue to participate and avail of it throughout their lifespans.

Sentiment score: 0.39