Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the reversal to having the three islands together, which I believe is the only answer. Will the Minister of State clarify the latest date for the guaranteed air service to the island in the absence of any announcement from the Department of a successful bidder? My understanding is that the Department extended the current service to the end of the year. I have a horrid feeling that the islanders are going to spend Christmas wondering whether they will have either a plane or a boat. Can the Minister of State confirm when he will announce the successful bidder for an air service to Inis Mór? Earlier, I suggested that the tender would have been to the end of January or February. The end of the year is a bad date, because from 22 December onwards people are partying or whatever and getting all the people in one place becomes more and more difficult. We have 38 days to go but we probably have only 14 or 15 working days. Will the Minister of State clarify where we are going in that regard? What was it that Oscar Wilde said about one parent and two parents? This time we have lost two, but it seems that we will lose one of the parents for a second time unless we get a shake on things. We have reason to be concerned.

My next question for the Minister of State relates to the Leader programme. A certain former Minister, who now has a prestigious job in Brussels, Mr. Hogan, made some policy decisions that many of us in this committee could not agree with. They were some of the most bizarre decisions ever. We had divided up the country in a way such that virtually everyone was happy. Now, we are in a farcical situation. I hear my colleague, Deputy Michael Collins, giving out with some justification and arguing that he wants a west Cork-based company to supply the service in west Cork. However, I should point out that one of the extraordinary arrangements arising as a result of this situation is that the Aran Islands company does not provide the service from the Aran Islands under the Leader programme. How that was done? Not only does this have an effect in terms of the delivery of the Leader programme on the islands, but it is utterly disastrous in terms of the business and employment bases in Inis Oirr. That island has by far the best population structure of any island around the cost because it had these office jobs that were attractive for young people to stay and rear families on the island. Can the Minister of State confirm, in answer to the remarks of Deputy Cannon, that the Department, either through the Leader, Gaeltacht, islands or some other heading, is willing to undo the tremendous mistake it has made in respect of Inis Oirr? Can he confirm whether the Department will provide money through some guise or another to ensure that Comhar na nOileán can maintain employment on Inis Oirr while we wait for a change of approach or a change of Government? This would ensure that from the next iteration of the Leader programme, the companies in these areas are those which get to win the contracts and get on with the job as long as they put in a good bid. The Minister of State need not tell me that this is not possible. It is perfectly possible. I simply cannot understand it. Humpty Dumpty would not get a better arrangement by having a company in the Aran Islands providing services in Cork and someone far away from the islands providing a service to the Aran Islands. It is unbelievable.

I will make the following point to console Deputy Michael Collins. He might not have known it but the Aran Islands company was providing a service in west Cork for the past ten years to the islands of west Cork. My understanding is that the company did tremendous work there and that those in the islands of west Cork had no anxiety to join the rest of west Cork in the sense of the operation being run from west Cork. Indeed, they were keen for the service to continue operating from the Aran Islands. Perhaps others will come back five years from now and say the same thing.