Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister, as always, for her colourful response. I know there is great passion. The Minister got the sense about the islands. I would really like the gateway housing innovation on Cape Clear to be considered further because it was a great idea. Cape Clear is an island that the Minister would be more than welcome to visit. To get people back living on our islands and encourage people to move to them, we need to be innovative and think outside the box.

The other challenge we have on islands is the provision of education and healthcare. To give an example, I will refer to Cape Clear again. Its community is really struggling to recruit personnel for its primary school. It has one primary school and it is so important in attracting families to the island. The community also has issues in recruiting proper cover for healthcare – for example, community nurses. Perhaps we should consider something like an innovative tax exemption for professions such as those of teachers, nurses and doctors. I do not know what that tax exemption would be. I would not go so far as to make the islands tax havens but there should be some type of tax exemption to encourage professionals to have a little change of lifestyle and move out to the gorgeous islands we have in places like west Cork.

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