Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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24. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the range of current supports available to help keep island communities sustainable; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16737/15]

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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It is a core policy of my Department to support the sustainable development of the offshore islands. My Department is the principal Department charged with island development, which it undertakes by supporting island infrastructure and by subsidising transport services for the inhabited offshore islands. These comprise passenger and cargo ferry services with a connecting bus service, where necessary, in addition to an air service for the Aran Islands.

A current allocation of €5.9m has been provided to my Department for transport services for the inhabited offshore islands in 2015. A capital allocation of €0.644m has also been provided to my Department for island infrastructure expenditure in 2015. I might also mention that, since 1997, my Department has approved expenditure in the region of €120m on island infrastructure. As a result, island life has improved considerably and populations on many offshore islands have stabilised or increased.

In addition, my Department is the lead partner in relation to the Aran LIFE project, which is being core funded by the EU under the LIFE programme and which is aimed at generating more sustainable farming practices on the Aran Islands. The project, which has a net value of €2.6m, commenced in 2014 and will run for four years.