Mr. Simon Murray:

The role of Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann is that of a representative organisation. To touch on what Mr. Early said previously, we are responsible for many issues related to island life, as members can imagine. However, they are all pointless if we do not have a population. I note that 100 years ago there were about 15,000 people living on the Irish islands, across about 60 islands. There are now fewer than 3,000 people living on fewer than 20 islands. The rug has been lifted on Irish society a lot over the past 20 years, especially in the past couple of weeks, but over the past hundred years there has been a consistent failure on the protection of islanders. We are talking about species, but the people the committee members are looking at could be a very rare species if something does not happen in the not too distant future. This is part of all of the work we are about - that is, to try to convince this committee and others, respective Governments and elected representatives that this country has islands. It is an island nation. One would think it would be one of the few places in the European Union that would actually be happy to have offshore islands. However, we have found living on islands to be a struggle. That is the long and the short of it. It is a constant struggle. Remember what islands are off Donegal, Galway, Mayo and Cork. They are serious economic drivers in each of those counties and for Revenue in general, especially through tourism.

If this Bill, which I hope becomes law in the not too distant future, anchors just a handful of communities across the islands, it will make a huge difference, as Mr. Early said about the declining numbers. We are trying to hold onto what we have and not allow it to get worse. We are interested in anything that we can achieve through this committee or through this Department. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine did something which was very effective across the islands, namely it increased the areas of natural constraint, ANC, payment and this was of major benefit to island farmers.

We are here to continue to save our islands, and the Island Fisheries (Heritage Licence) Bill 2017 is a huge spoke in that wheel. That is the overarching concept of everything we are about. Mr. Early and Mr. Conneely can handle all the technical details if members have any more questions on them. The bottom line is that either we want our islands and want to cherish them or we want them to continue to disappear. That is what has been happening over the past 100 years. At this stage we need a huge effort. We need recognition and a change in the psyche of Government Buildings about the place of islands in our heritage, in our culture and in this country's history.