Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter. I also thank the Minister, Deputy Kelly, for coming to the House to take it. I know he is aware of some of the issues which are affecting funding for the non-Gaeltacht islands. There has been a differentiation with regard to the funding for Gaeltacht and non-Gaeltacht islands. The former are primarily funded by Údarás na Gaeltachta and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, while there is a patchwork of funding streams for the non-Gaeltacht islands which dates back to the time of the rainbow coalition which held power from 1994 to 1997. The latter was the first Administration to commit to provide funding for non-Gaeltacht islands. Funding was originally provided by the then Department of Social Welfare and was very modest in nature. From 2001 to 2009, funding was provided by the then Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht affairs. Since 2009, funding for non-Gaeltacht islands has been delivered by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government via the local community development programme. Each of the islands in question would have service level agreements with Comhar na nOileán and Comhdáil Oileán na hÉireann, the Irish Islands Federation.

Much of the funding in question would have related to community development officers on a few of the islands. Some of those officers would have overseen multiple islands in the context of the provision of after-school services, play groups, services for the elderly, youth services, employment support, advocacy services, rural social schemes, rural transport and tourism projects. Such services are provided by a range of agencies on the mainland and tend to be taken for granted by citizens. The community development officers to whom I refer built up quite a track record in the context of delivery. In Civil Service speak, it might be stated that they had developed a competency or capacity in this regard. Essentially, this means that they were trusted by the relevant agencies and Government Departments to provide a one-stop-shops facility in the context of the delivery of State services. This has been the position on the non-Gaeltacht islands for some years. I recall stories to the effect that decades ago, before the funding to which I refer was put in place, the local national school teacher or parish priest would have been the go-to person in terms of getting what was required for a particular island. Those days are gone. The challenge for the islands is to obtain funding through the community development officers, who have done a fantastic job.

The Minister is aware of the difficulties being encountered by island residents, whether in terms of putting their children through national school, fighting for access to services and trying to obtain acknowledgement to the effect that life on offshore islands can be quite difficult and challenging. The maintenance of development funding, to be disbursed by community development officers, is critical not only in terms of the day-to-day running of the islands but also in the context of maintaining population levels and fighting to obtain additional services. Successive Governments have for too long seen the islands as being a burden on the State. That is not the case; they are a resource which should be funded.

I look forward to the Minister's reply. I am aware he has done a great deal of work on this matter. I thank him for facilitating dialogue in respect of it between his Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Progress has been made but there is more to be done.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Harrington for raising this matter. I am aware that it is extremely important to him and to most of the Deputies who live in coastal constituencies. Along with Deputy McCarthy and a number of others, he has raised this matter on previous occasions.

My Department's local community development programme, LCDP, is the largest social inclusion intervention of its kind in the State. The most recent programme officially ended at the end of 2013, having operated for four years and provided funding of €281 million during that period. It is being implemented on a transitional basis for 2014, with a budget of €47 million, pending the roll-out of the new social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, in April 2015. I believe it was the appropriate and necessary decision to make that intervention.

My Department currently provides LCDP funding to Comhar na nOileán Teoranta, the company with responsibility for delivering the programme to the offshore islands. In 2014 the Department allocated €527,272 to the company for the delivery of the LCDP to the offshore islands of Bere, Sherkin, Inishturk, Inishbofin and Clare. I am quite familiar with some of these islands and passed through the Deputy's constituency on my way to visit them. In terms of the successor programme, SICAP, the intention is that island areas will be eligible for inclusion in the tendering process, which is currently underway and is due to be completed in February 2015. The SICAP funding allocations are informed by a specific resource allocation model, RAM, which focuses on relative disadvantage of individual areas. Using this model brings logic and consistency to funding allocations and means each funded group receives a fair share of resources. The procurement process for SICAP was open to local development companies, other not-for-profit community groups, commercial firms and national organisations that can provide the services to be tendered for to deliver the new programme. In stage 1, joint applications were encouraged and organisations of varying sizes, for example smaller organisations working in consortia with larger ones, were invited to submit joint applications.

Discussions have taken place and are ongoing between my Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht, which has lead responsibility for the islands, in response to the issues raised regarding the continuation of funding for the development offices on a number of non-Gaeltacht Islands. This reflected the fact that the issues involved are broader than just those relating to SICAP, which I acknowledge. I assure the Deputy that both Departments fully understand the importance of the community development infrastructure on these islands. I and my colleagues, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, and the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, who has a particular responsibility in this area, will be ensuring that both our Departments continue to collaborate to agree a workable solution into the future. In the meantime, LCDP funding for the groups concerned will continue until the end of March 2015.

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. I note the work that has been done in this area by the Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy McHugh, and Deputy McCarthy. As the Minister indicated, there is an uncertainty with regard to funding for Bere Island, Sherkin Island, Dursey Island, Whiddy Island, Long Island, Hare Island, Inishbofin, Inisturk and Clare Island because they are non-Gaeltacht islands.

I encourage the Minister to consider a more long-term solution to copperfasten funding for the non-Gaeltacht islands. The work the federation does is invaluable and it is under pressure. The population on each of the islands, bar none, is under severe pressure. Various censuses over the years show a very worrying trend. The loss of services results in a vicious downward spiral. Since this country is an island at the periphery of the European continent, we should look after our inhabited offshore islands and go a bit further to support them and recognise that they comprise a resource. They have tremendous tourism appeal. The Government has recognised the difficulties island farmers have in terms of access, and they are to get an extra payment owing to islands being areas of natural constraint. The islanders get increases in capital funding, also for access. The funding for the development offices and officers will provide continuing comfort for island inhabitants and ensure their health, welfare and education. It will enhance tourism and employment prospects.

As I stated, the advocacy group is a one-stop shop for liaising with the State agencies and Departments and highlights the difficulties island people have. These difficulties are not very well understood unless one has spent time and lived on islands. I thank the Minister and look forward to further discussions and agreement on how the funding will be copperfastened over the coming weeks.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I understand the issues facing many of these islands. I have been on them, particularly when I was an MEP or, more appropriately, when trying to become an MEP. The islands are fantastic places and there is general acceptance that the vital infrastructure already put in place needs to be maintained. Subject to available funding, we will do everything we can, working with the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, to ensure the structures and services that are in place will be maintained in the coming years. Whatever discussions and negotiations are necessary to ensure appropriate services are maintained will be engaged in. I have given this assurance previously, as I stated to Deputy Michael McCarthy, and I am offering assurance to Deputy Harrington this evening. I certainly believe that, through working with the other Department, we will be able to find enough resources to ensure services will be maintained within existing funding constraints. I am quietly confident, given the initial and ongoing discussions between the Departments, that we will be able to get there. I certainly believe the services on the islands need to be maintained. It is certainly the intention of the Government to maintain them.