Plans for five public pools

FIVE new public swimming pools are set to open in the next six months as the Government splashes out on facilities in 38 towns and neighbourhoods across the country.

The new pools are part of a plan to build from scratch, replace or refurbish 38 pools over the next five years, and follow the completion of 19 similar swimming pool projects since 2000.

The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, in conjunction with local authorities, currently has five pools close to completion, 11 more under construction or about to begin building, and eight others out to tender.