Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I visited Inis Meáin during the summer and spoke to a number of the islanders. As the Deputy and I well know, sorting out a pier presents different challenges and everybody seems to have a different solution. The college has done the simulation and it is going back now to look at a number of other things that arose during those simulations. The parties have reviewed this and there is ongoing contact between the county council and the maritime college.

The Government is absolutely committed to a new pier. I agree with the Deputy that this has been going on for a long time. My officials are in contact with Galway County Council on a fortnightly basis. We have to get the business case but it has to be made by the county council before I can bring it any further. We are working with the local authority. In fairness, it is trying to find out what the best solution is here because, from my experience of the islands, one could find a solution but it might not be the right one. This simulation will give us more information on what needs to be done.

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