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

The research that has been presented today is really useful from the point of view of trying to develop policy, not just for the island communities. It is a deep dive into it and we are looking forward to looking further into this research. It also has implications for addressing housing needs on the mainland. It is clear from the hearing we have had this morning that there is an opportunity for an approved housing body to be established through Údarás na Gaeltachta. This committee should engage with the coiste na Gaeilge on that to make a strong recommendation that its remit could be extended to become an approved housing body for all of our island communities. That is something we will take up with our colleagues. If we could have some data on the uptake of the Croí Cónaithe scheme and how big an issue the bottleneck in terms of title is, we as a committee would be willing to bring it up with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, who I know is quite amenable to trying to address any such bottlenecks.

It is also clear from the evidence this morning that we as a committee should write to each of the relevant local authorities to ask them to engage to a far greater extent with the community representatives on each of the islands to see if we can overcome some of the planning challenges that exist.

I thank the witnesses for the evidence presented, the work that has been done and for commissioning this piece of research. It is a very innovative step for a community organisation to commission a piece of research like this. I thank them for their time today.