Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact there is a monitoring committee and that the islands are represented on it. My difficulty with the monitoring committee is that it is inputting into a report. I would have thought the monitoring committee would carry out the report as a body outside watching the progress. Is it the Department that will carry out the report and the monitoring committee will input into that?

I welcome the progress. I welcome the electric bus on Inis Oírr and the other progress being made, as well as the ring-fenced funding. However, the background is important, as always. Back in 1996, there was a task force and it has taken an eternity to get to having a policy that is not based on legislation. The implementation is extremely important.

If I have time, I will come back to the outstanding issues, such as the Caladh Mór pier on Inis Meáin, the pier on Inis Oírr, the lack of a primary care centre on Inishbofin which, as the Minister knows, has taken forever, and the primary care centre on Árainn Mhór. These are crucial things that were included in the plan.

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