Ms Majella Ní Chríocháin:

I am from Comdháil na Oileáin, the local development company for the offshore islands of Ireland, that is, the islands from north-west Donegal to south-west Cork. I congratulate the committee on this report which is extremely useful and a step forward in terms of coastal and, in particular, island communities. It is broader than the fishing industry but we owe a debt of gratitude to the Donegal fishermen who have been pushing this for about seven years, mostly unaided. These issues would not be on the table today if it were not for them.

For its part, Comdháil is looking to have a meeting or some event this year to see if we can get all of the fishers on the islands involved in an organisation, as they have done in Donegal. I would say that this is an issue of concern to all of the islanders, just in case there is any perception that this is an issue which is only of concern to Donegal.

The report mentioned Comhairle na Tuaithe or some kind of forum where general policies issues at which the report looked could be progressed. That would be great. I am not sure if the committee is talking about an inter-departmental thing or something that would be broader but certainly Comdháil would be more than happy to sit in on that if it was a possibility. It is really important there is a forum where we examine coastal policy issues which includes fishing but also coastal management and tourism. People may have difficulty with the flags but there are flags in each of the areas where there are islands. Perhaps that is another vehicle where we could look at getting policy issues which are of concern to coastal communities and, in particular, island communities addressed.

Once again, I congratulate the Donegal fishermen. If there is a comhairle na mara or something like that, we would be more than happy to sit on it and work with them.