COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE

Monday, December 20, 2021

QUESTION NO. 1

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

'To ask the CEO to present an update with the issue of Booms at Tallaght Leisure Centre, noting the concerns of Swimming Clubs and individuals who have waited so long for a solution to be found and will he make a statement?'

REPLY: 

As previously reported to Councillors, the swimming pool at Tallaght Leisure Centre was originally designed in two sections to support facilitate optimum access by young children, older persons and people with mobility issues through a boom mechanism that creates a shallow 8 metre pool alongside the larger pool.  The boom could be lowered to create one larger pool but the management company’s advice and experience based on operating the pool for many years is that the overwhelming majority of users are amply accommodated with the divided pool set-up.  Consequently, when the boom mechanism was damaged a number of years ago, in the context of inspection reports by pool maintenance experts who advised that the damage to the boom would incur considerable repair costs without any guarantee, and that the boom type is no longer being manufactured, a decision was taken to leave the pool settings as they were rather than spend either €150-€200k on repair or €500k+ on installing a new boom.  This decision was made based on the management company’s view that the dual main goals of providing ample facilities to allow all ages and abilities of people to learn how to swim, and to provide the general public with a pool for exercise were still being met by the facility.

However, there is provision in the Council’s capital programme 2022-2024 for upgrade work to the facility and this will include an assessment of the viability of boom repair/replacement in the context of the available budget.