Mr. John Walsh:

I agree with Deputy Ó Cuív's points. On the question of broadband, if we get a radio link with 30 Mbps, in a year or two years we will be looking for fibre. If we had to attend a meeting today in Leinster House, we are probably the only community in Ireland that would have to have two overnight stays. Our first ferry this morning was 7.45 a.m. and I would not have made the meeting for 9.30 a.m. in Dublin. Our last ferry last night was 6.30 p.m. and if I had to get that going home, it would not be doable to get it from Dublin.

We really need proper broadband and the only solution to future-proof the islands for 30 years is fibre broadband. An expert on broadband said to me once that the radio link is like a water connection in that if one or two people use it, it is very good, but if 50 or 60 people start using it at the same time, it is useless. That is what would happen and we already know 30 Mbps was probably not good enough two years ago, never mind two years from now, when it will be behind.

I agree with Deputy Ó Cuív's points on infrastructure. In the past it worked. On my island, Heir, the islanders were key partners in whatever projects were going ahead. We were partners with the local authority, Cork County Council, and with the islands division. They work very well. Lately there has been some slippage and the islanders are not really getting a say in what is going on. As Deputy Ó Cuív said, very little is happening which is disappointing. In Deputy Ó Cuív's constituency, issues with the pier in Inis Oírr have been going on for many years. I was there myself. It is vital infrastructure. I cannot understand why that has not been done.

On housing, as Ms Moran said, some people are living with their parents and living in mobile homes. They are the unseen homeless people. We are trying to encourage people, particularly young families, to live on islands. I know young families here with babies living in substandard accommodation. They do not make enough to get a mortgage and they make too much to get social housing. Local authority housing is not an option for them. They need affordable housing. We need to come up with schemes. Hopefully, the study being carried out at the moment will give us some answers to that.

On energy, I am chairman of the European Small Islands Federation. It was set up in May 2001 and has 11 members ranging from Scotland, France, the Åland Islands off Finland, right down to Croatia, Greece and Italy. We work at a local level. We share best practice and we also work at a European level trying to influence EU policy. We represent 1,640 islands and approximately 360,000 islanders. We have built up key partnerships over the years with, for example, the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions, CPMR; Greening the Islands; and FEDARENE, the federation of energy agencies. We are partners with all of them.

Over the years we have built on our work. We have done considerable work on energy. We were instrumental in setting up the clean energy for EU islands secretariat and also the facility for funding energy projects for islands, New Energy Solutions Optimized for Islands, NESOI. We are delighted that Inishbofin in Galway is a beneficiary of that. Cape Clear, Bere Island and Inis Mór were beneficiaries of the clean energy for EU islands. That secretariat is set up to support islands in their energy transition.

We need to convince the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to do something with the islands so we are not left behind. If we get the same rate as the mainland, it is actually a step behind for us because on islands costs are 30% to 40% higher. I do not understand why he does not do what the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine does when it comes to building agricultural sheds. If a shed costs, for example, €10,000 on the mainland, it adds the extra amount it costs on an island. It may add 30% indicating the shed on the island will cost €13,000 and then the grant rate remains the same. That was the approach the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine took to solve it for islands. That scheme was successful. Many buildings were built on islands. We would welcome a meeting with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on that.

If islands do not get their energy plans in order, we will be in serious trouble. We recently had a visit from Soren Hermansen from the EU energy island of Samsø. He pointed out how important energy is for the future of islands. Living on islands is already costly enough. As we know, there have been three increases in energy in the recent months. If that continues, it will force people from the islands because we simply will not be able to live on the islands with the extra costs of energy on top of the extra cost of living on the islands. That is all I have to say for the moment and I would be available to answer any questions.