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

As the Deputy said, I launched Our Living Islands - National Islands Policy 2023-2033 in June last year. Our Living Islands is a substantial document, a ten-year policy backed up by rolling three-year action plans. It has time-bound commitments so Departments and agencies across government can be held to account for its implementation.

Following the publication of the policy, I established a monitoring committee, chaired by my Department, to engage with key Government Departments, agencies and local authorities with regard to the implementation of the action plan. The committee includes representatives of the island communities and representatives of Departments and State bodies which have key roles in the delivery of the policy and action plan. The most recent meeting of the monitoring committee was held in Galway on 6 March. The relevant Departments and agencies provided progress updates at that meeting, particularly in respect of actions with a timeline of quarter 3 or quarter 4 of 2023. Further updates are expected at the next meeting of the monitoring committee, which is scheduled for 23 May.

Some examples of the progress being reported to date under the action plan are as follows: a new search and rescue contract for the Irish Coast Guard, to include services to the islands, has been awarded by the Department of Transport; remedial and upgrade works have been carried out at the airports in Conamara and on each of the Aran Islands, at a total cost of €890,000; face-to-face presentations on road safety education were delivered to 60 transition year students on Árainn Mhór island, Donegal, by the Road Safety Authority; 20 applications have been received to date by local authorities for the Croí Cónaithe grants which provide a 20% top-up for vacant or derelict properties on the islands; and ring-fenced funding for islands is being included in schemes within my Department such as LIS, CLÁR and town and village renewal. For example, in January, I approved €73,000 in CLÁR funding for Inis Mór blue flag beach seating area and over €50,000 for an electric bus on Inis Oírr.

Progress is being made and I will be publishing a full update shortly. The committee is having a meeting shortly. It has to approve the minutes of the last meeting and they will go up on the website.

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