Mr. Simon Murray:

Good morning, Chairperson and committee members. I will finish off our statement, although Ms Moran has more or less covered everything. As Our Rural Future outlines, islanders are, overall, more disadvantaged than those living on the mainland, as we know. Successive Governments have accepted that this is the case and that it is important to maintain sustainable communities on the islands, valuing the contribution that islanders make to the mainland economy, the Wild Atlantic Way and the culture and heritage of the country, as some examples. Specific, exceptional measures to counter this disadvantage have been recognised. The Government has funded island-specific capital programmes, provided targeted supports for islanders, made certain exceptional arrangements for islanders in mainstream programmes and developed some policies with specific mention of the islands, all of which the islanders appreciate.

While islanders have always worked in close partnership with their local authorities and statutory agencies, it has been islanders' experience over the decades that if there are not specific island policy programmes and budgets, islands inevitably lose out as we simply do not have the critical mass to compete with other interests on the mainland. Islanders require island-specific strategies delivered by those who have an understanding and experience of the particular challenges involved in developing enterprises and community projects on the offshore islands to ensure that islands continue to be sustainable communities into the future.

One of the main ways to truly achieve the objectives set out in Our Rural Future is to reinstate, with a meaningful budget, the islands capital budget, providing moneys to co-fund island capital projects with their respective county councils, the HSE, the Department of Education, sports capital programmes or whatever budgets can be co-funded. This is to work in tangent with the current subsidised system for air transport, ferries and cargo boats as well as funding to the island development offices and co-operatives. It goes without saying that behind the financial structures, success will also rely on a strong action plan and policy document for our offshore islands.

I will also say to people who have not seen it, as I always say this at any opportunity I get, that there was a brilliant documentary made called "Inis Airc: Bás Oileáin", which means Inis Airc, death of an island. It is on TG4 and YouTube, and I strongly urge everybody to watch it. It is about the death of Inis Airc, which happened in 1960. I know that seems like a long time ago but it is actually not because, for islanders who live on islands, this is the shadow that stops us all the time, the possibility of the lights going out on an island. If members had 45 minutes to spare in their lives at some stage, I would strongly advise them to watch that documentary. It will give them a very strong taste of why Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann is in existence and why we spend our lifetimes trying to keep islands alive.