Ms Cathy Ní Ghoill:

I thought I was off the hook in that I hate being the last speaker because my three colleagues have eloquently covered the issues that the islands face. I was sitting here wondering what I was going to say. I am going to speak as an islander born and bred. As a development officer for 30 years, I am afraid to say the number working for Comharchumann Forbartha Árann and the local development organisation. I am a member of Comhar na nOileán and of Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann. I will speak from my heart as an islander. I know the politically correct thing to do is to welcome the plan. I welcome it wholeheartedly. I have seen enough plans in the past 30 years for the islands that they would keep my chair up if it disintegrated tomorrow. As much as I welcome the plan, my fear is - this was also the case with previous plans - that it will not be implemented. There is still an idyllic notion of the islands. Other speakers mentioned how crucial they are to island, both historically and culturally. I still feel that we are the poor relations of Ireland. There is an image of the islands being idyllic and beautiful, which they are. There are still people who think we all write poems and paint, and that grants are thrown at us right, left and centre. Many ordinary people have that image of the islands.

As beautiful and amazing as the islands are, with our unique way of life, island life is difficult and living on islands is difficult due to the cost of living, the logistics and this constant battle to try to preserve what we have. We have battled with many Governments over the years to keep essential services. We have had to fight tooth and nail to keep an air service to the Aran Islands. We should not have had to do that. It should have been taken as a given. Examples from Europe are always given. Those examples are taken when it suits and they are not at other times. I have just come back from an annual general meeting of the European Small Islands Federation. I talked to our island counterparts in Europe. They are treated totally differently by their governments.

I hate being a negative ninny here. Much good work has been done on the islands. Ministers have done excellent work. I am looking at one across from me, Deputy Ó Cuív, who had such an understanding of the islands. We should not be depending on individual Deputies or Ministers to have that understanding. There should be a policy in place for the islands from the top down, that has listened to the islanders and the needs of the islands. Our counterparts in Europe have free travel and freight to the islands. They take it that the islands are part of the country and that they should not be penalised for living on an island. I often feel that we are penalised for living on an island. The cost of living is 30% to 40% higher. Incentives for health and education have been taken away. For example, an extra allowance for teachers to come in was taken away. There are significant difficulties in obtaining teachers. It is double the cost to come out, with maybe shorter hours. We know that it is difficult to get teachers nationally. We will have issues with doctors, health, and so on. As much as I welcome the plan, we need plans relating to the islands to be implemented.

We need that ten-year policy for the islands that has been completed. That could be the saviour of the islands. We are now at a critical crossroads. Chapter 10 covers the population decline and the ageing population. It is difficult to get people to return home because of the difficulties on the islands. We have seen during Covid-19 that some came home and would love to stay home.

There are huge problems with planning on the islands, because many in "the powers that be" feel that islands should be kept as open-air museums. Islands are only worth the people that live on them. We can have all the forts and Dún Aonghases in the world, and they are lovely. However, if there is no vibrant community there, then what is an island? What makes an island? I would like to think that it is more than these ancient forts: it is the people who have lived there and who want to live there. We need a policy and a plan from the Government to identify the islands, as Ms Uí Mhaoláin has mentioned, as a specific group in their own right, and to put strategic funding and supports in place. We should not have to depend on a new Minister who may or may not understand the islands, every time Government changes. We need to have security. If Ireland and the Government is serious about the future of the islands, it is critical that these plans are implemented.

Ms Moran touched on a tax incentive. I have often brought this up. What is needed and what could change the future of the islands was if there were a specific rate tax incentive for islanders. We broached this before and were told that it could not happen under EU rules. However, we all know that since Covid-19 hit, things can be done, changed and implemented. This is a small population base and we need to get people back. People now want to work from the islands.

Fibre broadband was mentioned. That needs to be put in place urgently. There should be a tax incentive to encourage teachers, doctors, etc., to go back to the islands. They are not going to have the population base. The economies of scale are not there on the islands. It is just not there, for a lot of those areas of work. If we were to try to encourage a GP to move from a practice in the city to a small island, there have to be incentives in place. While I genuinely welcome the plan, my fear comes from seeing more plans being published without being implemented. Someone at the higher level of Government needs to ask if we are serious about islands and their way of life. If the Government and if the committee are serious about this, then the plan needs to be implemented, and it needs to be implemented urgently, because we are at a crossroads. The islands, as stated, are in population decline and have an ageing population.We are going to lose a way of life and a culture. When it is gone, it will be difficult to turn the clock back. As an islander, as a development officer, and as a member - and my three colleagues covered all the other points - this needs to be taken seriously. It cannot be another plan to sit on another shelf, beside all the other plans that have been published over the years without being implemented. My hope is that this group and committee will follow through. We need a committee, group and Government to be serious about the islands, and to not just ad libabout how great and culturally important we are. I do not say this in a derogatory way. While I appreciate it, and I know the Government understands the islands, we need follow up and follow through.

People want to come back to the islands, but we have educated our youth to leave. It is great that they can do that. When I was growing up, there were 32 in our class. Most of the lads went fishing, they came back, and they lived on the islands. Now they are all going on. They are doing the leaving certificate. They are going to college. They are getting degrees and PhDs. They need an opportunity to come back. Remote working is a huge opportunity now. However, the infrastructure is not in place and the cost of living is huge. There are many other issues, such as difficulties for pregnant women and all those concerns, etc. We therefore need the supports in place.

On the whole, we need a tax incentive to encourage people. It should be specifically aimed at the islands, and a policy should follow up on that. We do not want to be back when another Government and another Minister comes in, to battle and keep fighting for essential services that should be taken as a given. We should have our transport. We should have our freight delivered. We should not have to pay through the nose. That should be a given as national policy, and taken by each Government going forward. I will shut up now and go raibh maith agaibh for listening.