Ms Bairbre Nic Aongusa:

I thank the Chairman and committee for the invitation to appear before them to speak about the development of a national policy for the islands. Offshore islands and their communities are an integral part of the fabric of rural Ireland. The islands are also home to some of our most vibrant and culturally distinctive communities. They are a vital part of the State's heritage and have a special significance in Irish culture.

We, in the Department of Rural and Community Development, are now undertaking the development of an islands policy as it has been 23 years since the most recent national policy was published.  There has been significant progress in many respects for the islands since that policy was published, particularly in the areas of access and infrastructure.

However, there are other areas that must be addressed to make the islands more sustainable and to maintain or, indeed, increase their populations. The commitment to develop a cross-government islands policy was a key measure in the programme for Government. The Government’s ambition in a national policy and action plan for the islands was set out in chapter 10 of Our Rural Future, the Action Plan for Rural Development 2021-2025, published last year. Our Rural Future was developed following extensive consultation with people living and working in rural Ireland, including on our offshore islands, and in collaboration with rural stakeholders and colleagues across Government and State agencies.

As we emerge from the shadows cast by Covid-19, an unparalleled opportunity now exists to re-imagine and revalue what rural Ireland means to our society. The vision of Our Rural Future is to maximise a recovery for all parts of our country and for all our people. It is the Government’s blueprint for the sustainable development of rural Ireland to 2025, with a framework to transform the quality of life and opportunity for people living in rural areas, including our offshore islands. The policy aims to facilitate more people living and working in rural Ireland, with meaningful career prospects, including by capitalising on new digital opportunities, improving access to public services and adopting flexibility within sectors. We have a unique opportunity now to capitalise on the changing nature of work, which has been significantly accelerated by the experience of Covid-19 which saw so many of us working remotely. Our Rural Future contains more than 150 commitments across the whole of government. Delivery of these will be reported on through a series of progress reports, the first of which was published in February and covered the actions in the 2021 Our Rural Future work programme.

With regard to the development of a national policy for the islands, it was recognised from the outset that obtaining input from island communities through a comprehensive consultation process was of crucial importance. In December 2019, a consultation paper was prepared with input from the participating Departments to act as a basis to advance the development of an island policy. It was agreed that officials from the Department would visit the islands in the initial stage of the consultation process, engaging directly with the communities and, where applicable, with the local development group or comharchumann representatives. The Department undertook an extensive consultation process through in-person meetings on the islands, online meetings, questionnaires and submissions. A small number of islands have recently requested that the Department hold an in-person meeting on their island, as it was not possible to visit them due to Covid-19 restrictions. It is intended that these meetings will be held next month.

A large amount of data has been gathered to date through the consultation process. What has emerged from the data is that, while many of the islands have individual or specific issues, a number of themes are common across the islands. The main issues highlighted in the consultation relate to education, health, housing and planning, employment, broadband, transport and access to services.

An interdepartmental committee for islands was established to develop a national policy for the inhabited offshore islands at the beginning of this process. This committee is made up of senior officials from across 13 Departments. The committee has been meeting regularly and directs and oversees the development of the policy. At the most recent meeting of the interdepartmental committee for the islands, participating Departments reviewed progress on the policy development and agreed the next steps to be taken. It was agreed that the various Departments would submit a list of action points that they could undertake to further enhance the future development and sustainability of communities on our offshore islands.

The inclusion of the islands function under the remit of the Department of Rural and Community Development since July 2020 has enabled a more integrated and cohesive approach to rural and community policy development for island communities and their economies. This closer policy alignment with the Department’s suite of programmes which support community development, rural economic development and digital innovation is already yielding dividends on a number of fronts and will become more apparent as the national islands policy is developed.

The Department is already progressing additional actions and programmes to further support the island communities. For example, the Department sanctioned funding of €2.09 million earlier this year for various works on non-county roads on a number of islands in Donegal. This was the culmination of ongoing dialogue between the Department and the local authority through various fora. In addition, a new measure for our islands has been included in the CLÁR programme this year. This has two aspects. The first is island community transport, which will provide up to 90% of the total cost of a community bus or vehicle with an electric charging point which is powered by solar PV panels. The maximum grant available will be €100,000 for a vehicle, increasing to €120,000 for a bus, where solar panel and charging point are included. The second aspect is an island outdoor community recreation amenities measure, which will provide up to 90% of the total cost of outdoor community recreation amenities on islands, subject to a maximum grant of €50,000.

The Department of Rural and Community Development has a strong track record of developing innovative policies and strategies in consultation with communities and stakeholder groups. Our approach to the development of the new national policy for the islands is no different. The island representative bodies, island development companies and the island co-operatives have been very effective over the years in supporting their communities and raising their issues of concern with the Government. I am aware that the committee has met those groups on a number of occasions as well. We see these groups as key stakeholders in the development of the island policy and we are committed to continuous engagement with them as the work progresses.

Overall, our vision is that the policy development process will lead to the agreement of a number of objectives across all policy areas to support, promote and empower our island communities. Implementation of the policy through the three-year action plans will improve the quality of life of island communities by fully taking into account the unique context of each island and by developing a system of reporting and review that will promote accountability. As noted in Our Rural Future, this new islands policy will be the first focused policy initiative for the islands for more than 20 years. It will focus on providing new opportunities for islanders and building sustainable futures for island communities. It will be developed in consultation with island communities and with input from across the whole of government to provide a blueprint for sustainable island development that will safeguard our island communities for generations to come. We welcome the views of the committee as a valuable input into the policy development process and we look forward to the discussion today.