Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the officials for coming in this morning and Ms Nic Aongusa for her opening statement.

I have only two questions. The first relates to the policy document itself. This is a ten-year plan. It will be an important policy moving forward and it will matter a lot. We can tell from the engagements we have had how important this policy is to people who live on the islands and what it will mean to them. The Department will be aware that Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann has asked for a draft copy of that policy document. The Department has spoken much about engagement and collaboration. I would ask if that is something that would be actively considered by the Department given it is so important the comhdháil is on board with this policy when it is published. After all of the work, all of the time and all of the delay, the reasons for which I appreciate and understand, it is important we get it right. There is no point in publishing a big ten-year document if the comhdháil is not on board and if such representative bodies are not on board. It is something the comhdháil has requested and I ask that it be considered. There is clearly still time to do that.

Housing is obviously a big concern. It is something that has been raised by everybody who has come before the committee in relation to the islands. I welcome that University College Cork is carrying out a survey of housing stock. I presume that will feed into the work the Department is doing because it will be important when it comes to the housing part of that document. Have the witnesses any update on that survey and will they confirm if it will, in fact, feed into the work of the policy?