Mr. Joe Byrne:

I wish to make a general contribution. I am deputising for the cathaoirleach of Galway County Council who cannot be with us today. It is welcome to have had five Galway Oireachtas Members at the committee today. That is positive. As the discussion has developed, the context has become far wider than matters relating to Galway County Council. Perhaps, in a way, Galway County Council is a pawn in the game and that is a matter of regret. As leas-chathaoirleach of the council, I am keen to endorse the contribution of our chief executive. The joined-up thinking between our executive and elected members has been excellent in this matter. The level of information given to us and the numbers of discussions at council meetings are points on which we should really compliment our executive.

It is, of course, a difficult issue for Ms Ní Ghóill and others. I live in south Galway and probably the farthest from Ros an Mhíl, but I lived on Inis Mór for two years and I remember Ms Ní Ghóill from those days. Like all in Galway County Council, I have a connection. To answer Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell, the Connemara municipal district councillors in particular have an incredibly good connection with the residents of Inis Mór, the executive and our Oireachtas Members. There is very good connection there.

The real issue is that we as a council have to sign off on budgets and we are constrained. The councillors of Galway want a call for some form a State-provided PSO service for the Aran Islands. At our October plenary council meeting, Galway County Council unanimously requested our CEO to engage with the Department officials to have that service provided. I concur with all the comments, be they from Deputies Ó Cuív, Grealish or Connolly or Senator Ó Clochartaigh. The real issue is that we need more State funding for the Aran Islands. In reality, it is not an issue to be discussed at Galway County Council level because we cannot resolve the situation. Be they right or wrong, the by-laws are in place and they were introduced in good faith. We want a resolution and that is why we impress on Oireachtas Members the need to come up with a solution. We in Galway County Council cannot afford to run the service without funding being made available. That is a really important point and, from that point of view, today's discussion has been very welcome.