Ms Máire Uí Mhaoláin:

Yes. Within our own company it was fairly distributed to all the islands. If one takes, for instance, the Mayo islands and the LEADER programme, no money was ringfenced for the Mayo islands during the last LEADER programme. That means that it was allocated on a first come, first served, county-wide basis. It ended up that the expenditure on the Mayo islands was small, because the islands could not compete with Castlebar, Ballina and the wider county. In other areas, like Donegal, they came to an agreement whereby they would put €500,000 of the LEADER funds aside for the Donegal islands. We spent all that money on the Donegal islands. The same thing happened in Cork; we spent all that money in Cork. However, in Mayo, funds were allocated on a first come, first served basis, so the islands lost out. They did not have the resources to compete with the mainland for money. I am therefore not sure if it works. If one wants to target funding to an area, it has to be based on a local development strategy for that specific area. That is why we would like to see one local development strategy for all the Irish islands taking in all the Government programmes. Many resources are delivered through programmes, and they can be useful.

There were a few other things that Deputy Ó Cuív brought up, such as preschools and crèches, which are crucially needed on the islands. Many islands now have little working hubs. Inis Oírr has one, as does Clare Island. Some of the Donegal islands, such as Árainn Mhór have one. However, to have a hub, one needs childcare as well. Apart from all that, every preschool child in Ireland deserves a preschool education.

The children on the islands are no different. It is even more crucial on Gaeltacht islands as language is transferred through these mechanisms and through the supports for families who have moved to the islands who may be struggling.

We are looking forward to na pleananna teanga i leith na hoileáin Ghaeltachta. Hopefully, that will be a turning point; beidh sé cinniúnach i saol na n-oileán Gaeltachta go mbeadh na pleananna teanga á bhfeidhmiú agus dá bhrí sin go mbeadh tacaíocht do na naíonraí agus go mbeadh cúram leanaí ann.

The small works scheme is a major issue and it is raised among groups all the time. I understand there is no small works scheme and there has not been for the past few years. It is an issue for the Donegal islands and some of the smaller islands which may only want to improve a few hundred, or much fewer, metres, of a local road. It is important we have a small works scheme.

I will leave it to Mr. Murray and Ms Moran to address the question on health centres.

Ms Moran mentioned the issue of planning. Housing is a major issue. A very large proportion of the area of many of our islands is designated as a special area of conversation, including the island I live on, Inis Meáin and the Aran Islands. Tory Island is another island where it is almost impossible to get planning. There are no houses for sale on the islands. The houses remain in the ownership of families. Islanders have limited borrowing power as well. Even if a house comes up for sale, it often ends up in the ownership of someone who could pay much more for it than an islander could afford. Planning is a major issue. Under a housing study being done, Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann has emphasised that planning should be specifically addressed. The circumstances are different across the islands. The issues of planning and housing are the biggest threats to population loss on the islands.

We have had good success with renewable energy on the Galway islands. There is a master plan for Inis Oírr and every island needs to have a master plan. We would all work to progress that. Energy and climate change mitigation will be a major feature in all the programmes that will be developed in the new few years. If there was a master plan for the individual islands it would be easy to identify priorities for each year and work to address them in that way.

If an undersea cable for any utilities is being laid it would make sense to include in it fibre, electricity provision and all such provision. There should be more joined-up thinking across the various Departments and agencies such as Irish Water and the HSE when it comes to any capital expenditure for health centres or other facilities. Such resources are crucial. Water supply, energy resources and piers cannot be considered in isolation. The piers are our motorways and roads and they are extremely important for people living on the islands. Such resources and facilities should be dealt with in a much more integrated and joined-up way across Departments. We believe that could be achieved through co-funding budgets and that type of approach.