Mr. Simon Murray:

On the capital budget we would hope to have reinstated and what that means for the islands, the islands division specifically and the Minister with responsibility for the islands, it means that for projects on individual islands - for example, a HSE clinic, pier works, road works or other works related to island life - if you are going to the relevant entity, from the islands' perspective and from the islands division perspective, and you have 50% of the budget to do that job then that door is automatically very open as opposed to closed when you were looking for 100% funding. This has worked in the past. There is no reason it will not work in the future. Money gets work done. We know this from the funded projects completed historically and the amount of work we managed to get done at that time. Not too long ago, I was shocked to learn that the islands division had not looked for funding for the capital budget. I guess they just believed it was not there, but that is not the point; the funding should always be looked for.

On the islands' future, if we want continuity of life on the islands and to sustain the communities we are all a part of, although they are ever-dwindling communities, unfortunately, that takes money. Islands are net contributors to the economy from a tourism perspective, not to mention all of the works in terms of fishing, farming and so on that go on across the islands. We are looking only for something to come back our way in return for everything going out. In terms of what that would mean for us as a group from Donegal to Cork, including Mayo and Galway, it means we would still be here in 100 years' time. The past 100 years have been a disgrace in terms of the deliberate Government policies, which are in the archives, that resulted in depopulation of the islands for the want of tiny expenditure. A reduction from 34,000 to 2,300 is a massive collapse from a population perspective. These islands are empty; the lights are out. Inisbofin is in north-west Galway. The three islands next to it, Turbot, Inisturk South and Omey, are all depopulated since the 1970s or later. This is the end result of a lack of everything we are looking for. As I said earlier, a shadow stalks people living on the island in terms of who will be next and the possibility that that could happen in their lifetime. How do you prevent that? It requires co-ordinated, joined-up thinking and a budget that is realistic for the islands to maintain their futures.