Three of Ireland's most expensive hotels were given over €15,000 in swimming pool grants despite the pools being costly for the public to access.
The five-star hotels - The Merrion, The Marker and The InterContinental - received around €5,000 each from Ireland Active as part of the Covid-19 Swimming Pool Grant Fund for 2022.
The hotels also received over €10,000 in previous rounds of the same grant.
Read more: Adult entertainment shop ban on O'Connell Street street renewed
The grant was given out by Active Ireland in association with Swim Ireland who support Irish swimming.
The swimming pools are primarily for guests to the hotels - where it costs between €450 and €3,200 for a one night stay for two adults in the Merrion on Monday next week, according to their website.
The Merrion Hotel, on Merrion Street, did operate a €40 day rate for members of the public which is no longer available. Access to the pool is included in spa treatments which start at €55 for a "back reviver".
In Grand Canal's The Marker, a pool membership for three months costs €380 for three months or an €85 spa treatment will give access to the pool.
The InterContinental charges €30 for a day pass to the swimming pool and a monthly membership costs €183.
Sinn Fein TD for the area, Chris Andrews, criticised the grants being given to the hotels when two public pools were closed due to maintenance costs. He also raised the issue in the Dail.
He told Dublin Live: "You couldn't make this up - that swimming pools, north and south-inner city in the pools on Sean McDermot Street and Marian College, are closed due to the high cost of maintenance.
"They need more support. They are accessible pools. They are great facilities and yet we have private five star hotels getting funding from the public purse.
"It is absolutely infuriating. If swimming pools are funded by the state they need to be accessible to the public. You have to get a spa treatment to access the Merrion one."
The Ireland Active funding stated the the Marker Hotel was awarded €5,054.42, the InterContinental was awarded €4,819.33 and the Merrion Hotel was awarded €5,759.68.
A spokesperson for The Merrion Hotel said they received the grant in 2020 and 2021.
They said: "The hotel was awarded the grant in both 2020 and 2021 as a contributory support to maintain the long-term viability of the pool during a time when our business was forced to close due to Covid-19 restrictions."
The Marker and the InterContinental did not respond to requests for comment made by Dublin Live.
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.
Read more: Ireland house prices: Cost of average Dublin home revealed
Read more: Controversial MetroLink works under investigation by Dublin City Council
