Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is awful lot in this subject. We could be at it for a long time. As part of what was said, one thing was mentioned that can be underestimated, which is that as well as the pure health issues, access is key. It is about the frequency of the ferry or aeroplane services on Aran, their speed, quality, and the piers. It is also about the difference between getting on from a pontoon where the tide does not make any difference and, if someone is in a wheelchair, that person getting in at one level and getting off at the same level and so on. We must continue to invest in those facilities because not only do they have an impact on day-to-day living, but they also have a huge impact on the more vulnerable in society. I take from what was said that this is still a challenging issue.

There are two groups. The second group, the elderly, was mentioned as an issue. We want young people on the islands but young people often have chronic issues. The other problem with a young person is the syndrome will not wait. When our third child was young, on one occasion, we were lucky in that we got the doctor quickly. She was never sick much before or after but she had a roaring temperature. She talked about it again and again after it happened. Access is highly important, as is knowing what the correct thing to do is. That leads to the issue. When my kids were young, there was a local doctor - I live in a very rural area not much different from an island - who was available 24-7. That world does not exist anymore or will not exist in future. There is a big job for this committee to do - it is not only in the island context because we cannot get rural GPs either - as we cannot get island GPs. The job in Inishmore has been vacant for some time and there has been difficulty getting doctors for Inisheer. We need to look at the packages the witnesses put forward and see what we can do to ensure that not only doctors, but nurses, physios, and all the rest of the therapies, are available. We should look at this and do a quick bit of work on that issue because people will not settle. The people who are on the islands will stay but people will not move to places where they do not think their children will get good health services.

I have two questions. Remote monitoring was talked about. Are there specific examples of remote monitoring for diabetes, hypertension or whatever? What does it entail? I always make the comment, contrary to the impression often given in the media, that my experience of people generally, both urban and rural, is they adopt the technology when it suits them and they adopt very fast. I remember when mobile phones came in, within five or ten years, and the number may have been stuck with a bit of Sellotape to the back of the phone, people had phones and knew how to do whatever they wanted to do. Skype then came in and they were all Skyping their sons or daughters in Australia. When Covid came, they were sitting in the marts looking at the cattle being sold and were well able to say when to sell and when not to. People adapt. That is the easiest part of the challenge. It is getting all the technology, getting acceptance of the system, and getting over all these general data protection regulation, GDPR, problems.

I have a final question. Particularly now, and there is always a downside to everything, bike hire has become a major issue on islands, including Inishmore, Inisheer, Inishbofin and, I understand, Clare Island, because people who never ride bikes suddenly take out bikes for hire and fall off them. That is putting big pressure on GPs. It also raises the issue of evacuation of people suffering from trauma, which can be by boat or helicopter, and a safe way to get them from wherever they fall to the helicopter or boat that is covered for the medic who has to do the job, and that is proper and gives the equipment, especially on the smaller islands. We can put in an ambulance on the bigger islands but, in my experience, the smaller islands and how people are trained and so on, is becoming an issue that is raised with me time and again, particularly as regards the islands in my constituency.