Mr. John Walsh:

We are delighted to be here today and on behalf of the islands I thank the Chairman for the invitation. I will set out some background. I am the chairperson of Comhar na nOileán, which is the islands local action group. We manage the rural development programme, the Leader programme, the local and community development programme, the rural social scheme and the walks scheme on behalf of island communities in 33 islands across four counties, Donegal, Mayo, Galway and Cork, with populations ranging from three to 845 people.

The basis of my presentation is three reports carried out by a consultancy firm on behalf of Pobail and Comhar. One dates back as far as 2007, the next took place in 2009 and the last one was for the Common Fisheries Policy review in 2010. We are trying to get across the message that special solutions are needed for the islands if we are to sustain the island populations. The island populations are reducing at a dramatic rate and much of the time legislation and Government and EU policy is the cause. We are here today to highlight some of these issues. We hope today will represent the first step to try to make a serious attempt at sustaining vibrant populations on the islands.

Sometimes legislation does not take into account the needs of islands. Sometimes a rule or law is brought in which is seen as good for the country but it actually has a dramatic effect on the islands which was not foreseen at the start. We call on the committee to policy-proof the needs of islands before legislation is brought in.

The primary sources of income on the islands are all relevant to this committee. They include tourism, fishing, farming, ferries and the public sector, and often it is a combination of some or all of these. Island people are very resilient and like to live on the island but to do so they need to be able to carry out a number of different trades.

Let us consider the licensing system for aquaculture in the country at the moment. On some islands islanders got together and looked for licensing for aquaculture development. However, it takes up to seven years to get licensing which, in this day and age, is a disgrace and should not happen. We want young people to stay on islands but if they have to wait around for licensing for seven years then it simply does not happen and they move on.

I will outline some of the challenges. Before I comment on fisheries I will try to give people an idea of different things that happen because of legislation. Sometimes the impact on island life is dramatic. Let us consider the roads. In recent years no road works were done on the islands because the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government put a limit of €4 per sq. m on fixing roads, but because it costs €7 per sq. m on islands no roads were done. The islands were boxed into the local and community development programme because there was no other programme for islands. Certain social and economic committees have been proposed. However, if there is an attempt to break up the island organisations into bodies under the four different counties it will weaken the structure. At the moment as a national organisation we have strength in numbers and that is the way we want to keep it.

We have an issue with the moratorium on State jobs. In various islands where council workers were posted as well as different State positions, jobs were lost to the islands because of the moratorium. One job on an island is worth 100 jobs on the mainland.

We have an issue with the legislation relating to fisheries. We believe island communities should have licences designated for use on the islands. If a young person wants to stay on an island he or she should have the possibility of getting a licence to try to see whether he or she can make a go of it. such people should be able to try it out perhaps for two years. Then, once they make a go of it, the licence should go back to the community where it could be used again. There are many barriers to entry in the fishing industry. We believe this must be done because at the moment we are always planning for the short term. However, we should consider what it will be like in 30 years' time. The question is who we want to be fishing on the islands and that is what we should be planning for now.

Two issues stand out. First, the issue of bringing in bait onto the islands for pot fishermen. If island fishermen were allowed to catch bait themselves it would save on the cost of inputs. If one could go to the island to buy bait or if one could fish for it, it would be very beneficial to the islands. The problem is a fisherman can only deal with authorised buyers. People on islands cannot understand why they cannot buy fish off a boat when it lands on the pier. This is something that should be considered under the tourism brief of this committee. If island boats could land on islands and sell their fish to restaurants and tourists it would be a big change. That is how it works in France. It is always done there. Why can it not be done here?

The salmon fishing ban has had a dramatic effect on the islands. My colleagues from Donegal will discuss that presently. We fully support the work of the Donegal islands fishermen in their call for an easing of the ban on salmon and also the restrictions in area 6A.

There are challenges for islands with regard to infrastructure. Islands do not have access to ice, cold rooms or bait storage and this is something that must be addressed.

There are opportunities. We believe that islanders should be allowed to take control of the area around their own islands and manage it because they are the best people to do so. They are the custodians of the sea and they are the best people to oversee it. There is a considerable value to the landings in Ireland and all island communities want is their small share of it. There are opportunities under tourism and sea angling. It is possible to add value to fish. If we could land on islands we could smoke and fillet fish. All of this would lead to jobs on islands and we could build up a food brand on the islands. We believe this is very important. Small-scale island-managed aquaculture is the way forward. We have seen big farms off islands but it does not seem to be the way forward. I note the submission made to the committee by the Inis Oírr community outlining the problems they are facing. There are other opportunities in arts, foods, the marine research area and training and passing on the skills that islanders have. These are all opportunities that can be used for the benefit of island communities.

There were several proposals in the reports. One was a call for island fishermen to have salmon quota. This issue was mentioned some time ago by Mr. Eddie Sheehan, who referred to the effects of the salmon ban. The ban was never studied in detail to determine the effects but I know it had a dramatic effect on my island. The Donegal fishermen will outline the effects on their islands.

There is a need for derogations and exceptions in legislation for small island fisheries. Filleting on board, fishing for bait and selling on the island are all issues. Up to now in the case of angling there were dual licences and multi-purpose vessels.

That was the case before now. With the technology that is now available we cannot understand why it is not possible to have a boat that can work in an aquaculture farm during the week and take out tourists at the weekend. Why do people have to have two or three different boats? That does not make sense. That must be examined.

Islanders are custodians of the water and the landscape and they are the best people to manage their own waters in partnership with State agencies. Island organisations should be funded to purchase their own fishing capacity, be it tonnage or licensing. That would be a good step forward. It is very hard to get into the industry if one does not have a track record in it. This is true of farming and fishing. It prevents people who go to college moving back to the island because they do not see a way to earn an income. If one came back in the 1970s or 1980s one could do a bit of fishing or farming and make a living on the islands.

There is potential for island fishermen to conduct research on behalf of the Marine Institute and to do different marine training. We need a national organisation to deliver leader programmes and community programmes on the islands and we need fisheries funds. Breaking up national organisations according to county will be a loss to the islands and accelerate the process of depopulation. We are calling for a properly resourced cross-departmental working group to be established with island-relevant State agency representation. Its task would be to implement the measures contained in the reports that I am presenting today.