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

I am very disappointed with that reply, which seems to fail to recognise that getting any goods or labour onto the islands is far more expensive than trying to do the equivalent on the mainland. For example, to bring cargo from the mainland, one has to pay a cargo fee and VAT on that cargo fee. Those are extra costs. Thereafter, one has to move the cargo from the harbour to wherever on the island it is going.

I ask the Minister to meet a delegation from Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann. It is anxious to outline to the Minister why his policy is not treating all the people of not only the island of Ireland but also the territorial islands in an equal way because of the difference in cost. As the Minister said, the islanders have been innovative in what they have been doing. There has been considerable success. Why not build on that success and make the islands micro models of carbon neutral societies? We could bring Irish people and others from across the world to the islands to show them how a carbon neutral society actually works.

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