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

The work is at an advanced stage, thankfully. The Deputy is right. This has been going on for a long time. The draft is being worked on currently and, as I stated, officials of my Department are in regular communication with the representative groups. It is my intention that this will continue as the draft policy is being developed. I know exactly what the Deputy is saying. The interdepartmental committee for the islands was established in 2019 and has had numerous meetings. It went to Sherkin Island, Whiddy Island, Dursey Ireland, Bere Island, Inis Oírr, Inis Mór, Inis Meáin, Hare Island, Long Island and Arranmore. It has had public consultation. It did focus groups. There has been a serious amount of consultation. All that is now finished, so there is no reason the draft plan should not be coming forward very soon. I will continue to keep the pressure on.

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