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

Gabhaim buíochas leis na finnéithe agus tá fáilte rompu. It is good to have the submissions. Every facet of life on an island is different from on the mainland. You have to look right across the differences in accessing services and so on from the time you are born until the time you die. Was the loss of the status and the automatic choice for the delivery of programmes such as LEADER, SICAP, etc., which previously included all the islands, a significant blow to Comhar na nOileán?

Preschools and crèches are a significant issue but there are obviously some constrained numbers on some of the small islands all the way up to Inis Mór, but even its numbers are constrained. Should there be a special scheme that would deal with preschool childcare of all types, including early childhood care and education, ECCE, and crèches, in order to make it viable to have preschool care for children?

The next issue is energy. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil Comharchumann Fuinnimh Oileáin Árann ann. On that, if you were to use or exploit the possibilities of renewable energy, how important will it be for the State to provide the cable to the mainland in order to export any surplus energy from the islands, which could become a significant energy generator? Do the witnesses believe that the Department responsible for the islands should have capital funding to pay for the extra cost of installing an undersea cable, and maybe fibre at the same time, and in the case of Aran, possibly installing water infrastructure at the same time? That was done at Gola many years ago. How key is this co-funding from the Department to make sure that expensive things actually happen?

Co-funding peaked at between €20 million and €30 million and dropped back to €2 million to €3 million. Is there an adequate small works programme every year on the islands? There used to be. The co-funding for health centres and so on dried up in the past ten years. What is the effect of that on inhibiting the development of necessary social infrastructure on the islands? How big is the outstanding large-scale capital programme? We know about Inis Oírr and Inis Meáin. There are piers all around the coast, for example, Roonagh Pier and in Donegal, where work needs to be done. How substantial a capital programme would be needed just for major marine projects?

Do the county councils' housing plans, when it comes to planning permission for private housing, meet the needs of permanent dwellers on islands, businesses and farming? Are any social houses being built on the islands at the moment? My experience is that few social houses, and possibly none, have been built on islands in recent years. How important would it be to have a social housing programme to retain the same mix of population that anywhere else in the country would have?