Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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8. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will provide an update the islands strategy; when it will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27707/22]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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I ask the Minister to give an update on the islands strategy. Has she received the draft copy and will she indicate when it might be published?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As she knows, the Government is committed to publishing a ten-year policy on island development, with associated three-year action plans. My Department has completed the bilateral meetings with all relevant Departments.

These bilateral meetings have provided an opportunity for detailed discussion of the issues raised by island communities and for Departments to assess how they might help address the various issues raised.

The public consultation meetings have also been completed. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, it was not possible for officials to visit a number of islands and the public consultation meetings were moved to an online format. However, some island communities did not wish to engage with online meetings, preferring to wait for public consultation meetings to be held on their islands.

The final consultation meetings were held on Tory Island, County Donegal, and Clare Island, County Mayo, earlier this month. Senior officials from my Department were in attendance at these meetings and engaged with the island communities on the issues of concern to them.

The most recent meeting of the interdepartmental committee for the islands was held on 18 May, where participating Departments reviewed progress on the policy development and agreed the next steps to be taken. Work has begun on an initial draft of the policy document and I understand that, based on the development work to date, an initial draft is expected to be ready for my consideration by the end of summer.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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That is welcome. This strategy has been delayed mainly due to the Covid pandemic, which was accepted and understood. Have the public consultations been held on every island in person? I know Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann has sought a draft copy of this strategy as soon as the Minister receives it. I have previously asked the Minister and her officials to consider sharing it with that body. This is a ten-year plan and we have not had a strategy for the islands since 1996, 26 years ago. When introducing a ten-year plan, it is important to have the stakeholders on board. If they are not on board with the plan, it is not worth the paper it is written on. I ask the Minister to consider sharing a draft copy of the plan with Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann to ensure it is on board with the Minister when she rolls this out. That will really make it a success.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Public consultation meetings have begun and have been held on a number of island communities before Covid-19 restrictions resulted in the suspension of the process. Online public consultation meetings were then arranged for the remaining island communities via videoconference call, although this was logistically more challenging due to various factors such as broadband quality. Thankfully, that has improved on some of the islands since then. Online meetings were not held with Clare Island or Tory due to lack of online engagement and other mitigating factors. I am glad to say Clare Island now has good broadband. Public meetings were held on those islands at the beginning of May.

There is a list of islands that were consulted: Sherkin, Whiddy, Dursey, Bere, Inisheer, Inishmore, Inishmaan, Heir Island, Long Island, Cléire in County Cork, Arranmore in County Donegal, Tory in County Donegal and Clare Island in County Mayo. Islands consulted by online meetings by focus group were Inishbofin, Inishturk and smaller Donegal islands represented by Comharchumann na nOileán Beag on 19 November. Most of them got the face-to-face consultation. If they wanted it, they got it. I think the rest of them are happy.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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That is helpful. I am glad those seeking engagement in person were facilitated.

The Minister has spoken about engagement and collaboration on the draft plan. I reiterate the point that the possibility of success in developing a ten-year plan is reduced if the main stakeholder is not on board. Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann is a really good organisation, representative of all those islands which people call home. It does great work, and if it is on board, it will be a success.

I also want to mention island-proofing. I know the Minister is working on rural-proofing. Given it has been interdepartmental work to date, I hope island-proofing of policies will be included in the strategy.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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There is a strong commitment across Government to support development of the islands. I could give a list of the different things that have happened on the islands recently. There has been much more investment in them. There has been a major focus on them since responsibility for them has come into the Department of Rural and Community Development. I think that is recognised.

Significant consultation has been undertaken with island communities. There has been a wide consultation process with Departments and Government agencies. The islands federation, Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann, has had an opportunity to make a presentation to the interdepartmental committee and will be engaged with further as policy development progresses. I will be publishing the policy soon. I hope to have it for consideration by the end of the summer. If I keep consulting, I will never get this policy published. I will commit to having a review of it. It should be a living document. If things need to be changed as time goes by, we will do that.