Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It would be useful if, after the meeting, Mr. Walsh would furnish that information regarding the transport costs so we can include that in the correspondence that will be drafted on foot of this meeting in regard to the Government decision.

I want to put a final question to the witnesses. I do not expect to have an answer now but if Comhdháil could come back, I would appreciate it. The question concerns the utilisation of infrastructure when it is put in place. While this is not unique to the islands, there was a golden opportunity to exploit this on the islands and I do not know whether that has happened. My predecessor as Minister, former Deputy Pat Rabbitte, rolled out the high-speed broadband network to every single post-primary school in the country, including on the islands. I have spoken with some of the teachers on some of the islands and asked them whether the range of subjects has increased as a result, allowing for remote teaching. I accept it cannot be done in terms of practical subjects but it does provide an opportunity for students in second level schools on our islands to have a broader range of subjects. I have a particular problem in east Galway, where there are many small second level schools, and it limits the range of subjects that students can have. On the islands, with the introduction of high-speed broadband in the post-primary schools, have we seen an increase in the range of subjects being offered to pupils in the junior cycle and senior cycle where they are being taught remotely? The witnesses might come back to the committee with an answer to that in the not-too-distant future. From my experience, this has not happened on the mainland.

It needs to be driven by the Department of Education, working with the education authorities and the ETBs, to ensure a broader spectrum of subjects is offered to students in smaller second level schools.

Do the witnesses wish to make any final comments? No. In that case, I thank them for their contributions to this constructive and positive engagement. The joint committee will discuss in private session after this meeting a number of the issues the witnesses raised and we will follow those up. We will get back to them with the response we receive. The committee has also invited the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and her officials to a future meeting at which we will raise these very points again, as well as the concerns the witnesses raised with us this morning. Furthermore, it is my intention, as Cathaoirleach of the committee, to arrange a visit to one of our offshore islands where we will hold a formal meeting. We will meet people on the ground on a number of the islands and get a first-hand feel for their concerns before we prepare our final report for the Minister. We hope this will feed into the Department's action plan for island development when it is published. I hope that will be done as soon as possible. Gabhaim míle buíochas leis na finnéith. I thank everyone for their time this morning.