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

I thank Deputy Connolly. I know this is something she is very committed to. As the Deputy is aware, the Government is committed to publishing a ten-year policy on island development with associated three-year action plans. The programme for Government includes a commitment in this regard. As Minister with responsibility for the islands I am determined to ensure the policy is delivered.

The Deputy is aware that an extensive consultation process has been completed by the Department including meetings with island communities and relevant Departments and agencies. The feedback from this consultation process provided a valuable insight into the key priorities, challenges and opportunities for our island communities. The Government's ambition for a national policy and action plan for the islands was set out in chapter 10 of Our Rural Future, the action plan for rural development published in 2021.

The most recent meeting of the interdepartmental committee for the islands, which is chaired by my Department, was held on 10 October 2022. The initial draft document was shared with committee members for their feedback and observations, both in terms of their Department's draft input and the overall document. Officials from my Department have had further engagement with individual Departments and agencies over the past few weeks, including meetings with the relevant local authorities, in order to finalise the actions for inclusion in the plan. This process has now been completed and the draft updated accordingly. I expect a copy of the draft document to submitted to me before the end of the year, with a view to its publication in 2023. Deputy Connolly asks me a lot about the islands policy. There has been extensive consultation on it. We are nearly there. As I have said, the officials have been engaging with their counterparts on the draft document in recent weeks. It is important that we get buy-in from other Departments. When I get the commitments I can hold their toes to the fire to make sure they deliver. We are nearly there. It is a very important document that has been awaited a long time.

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