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

No, I refer to the Limerick declaration Dr. Lineen-Curtis just spoke about in terms of having that adopted. That was the one she spoke about earlier in her presentation.

Finally, Dr. Lineen-Curtis is right. We are talking about an issue in Ireland but access is an issue globally. We are lucky that one of our colleagues is on a global committee looking at the issue of healthcare. Senator Clifford-Lee is on the Inter-Parliamentary Union working group on health. We will take the witnesses’ submission and present it to her. She is travelling soon to meet that working group and we will ask her to put it on the agenda for discussion so that the initiative coming from Limerick can get a global platform, not just addressing the issue in Ireland for communities both on the islands and rural communities elsewhere, but also other rural communities across the globe.

That concludes the committee’s business in public session. We heard quite clearly that research is being conducted on different projects on all of our islands. We heard examples of that today. Some of it is happening wider afield as well. It is important that it is not just academic research; we are also looking at the practical application of research and the deployment of that to deal with real-world challenges in our communities, particularly our island communities.

I thank members for participating and I thank all the witnesses who contributed for making this historic meeting possible. I particularly thank the islanders here on Árainn Mhór for their hospitality and the school community for opening their doors and hosting us in this fabulous new art room and interactive facility here in Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada. It is a fabulous setting. We are surrounded by fabulous pieces of artwork. Normally in Leinster House, we are down in the basement and we do not even see daylight. Here, not only have we fabulous views out the window of a lovely bright room such as this but we are surrounded by fabulous artwork as well.

I thank everyone who has been involved – the people behind the scenes who have been here over the past number of months, the staff within the Oireachtas for their assistance in making this historic broadcast possible. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir for your assistance.

This meeting is now adjourned until Wednesday, 27 September at 9.30 a.m. when we meet in committee room 3 of Leinster House to consider the pre-legislative scrutiny of the social welfare (amendment) Bill 2023.