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

To go back to Deputy Connolly's question, we have waited a long time for the islands policy. The purpose of the monitoring committee is to ensure that the specific measures in the Our Living Islands policy and its associated action plan are put in place and acted on by the relevant Government Departments and agencies.

The committee has a role to play. If it is not being acted upon, that will obviously be highlighted. The reports were prepared by the officials, but the monitoring committee is there to oversee it and make sure that the things that are not happening are acted upon and highlighted. The committee has a very important role, and I will be watching closely what it is doing.

On my Department's funding schemes, there has been a great deal of dedicated funding for the islands. I announced the LIS last week. There was huge investment across the country. There is dedicated funding in that allocation which has to be spent on the islands. One of the things the islanders said to me was that when the local authority gets the LIS, it spends it all on the mainland and does not have any left for the islands. Ring-fenced money is now in place. They never got a look-in before, so the money has to be spent on the islands. That is just one example. As the Deputy is aware, I am doing many other things. I take on board the urgency of this matter. There is no doubt about that.

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