Ms N?ir?n U? Mhaoldomhnaigh:

We have not considered or investigated the scheme but it is something we certainly can do. All of the islands are different but when it comes to housing, the issues on all of them are the same. We know that a significant number of people would like to come to live on our island. There was a campaign a number of years back and many people expressed an interest in moving to the island but the problem was the lack of housing for sale or rent. In addition, we know that many people returned to the island during Covid. In order for us to make sure we can sustain our communities, we are going to have to address the issue of lack of housing for non-islanders who want to come to the island and islanders who emigrated and want to come back and build a house, as I did myself. Many people on my island have the same pattern of moving to England or America and returning and building on their own land. What was very good a number of years back was the grant to build a house on the islands but that ended in 2008. That was very beneficial and it would be very beneficial if it could be reinstated.

I am sure Ms Uí Mhaoláin will be able to deal with the issues on Inis Oírr.