Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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909. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development when her Department will take action to remedy the infrastructural deficiencies on Inis Bigil; if her Department has received correspondence (details supplied); her plans to visit the island; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25380/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm that my Department has received correspondence relating to infrastructural issues on Inis Bigil. Officials have contacted Mayo County Council, as the Local Authority with responsibility for such matters, regarding those issues.

The works in question relate to the sea wall at the pier, degraded roadways and a missing windsock at the helipad.

The works to the sea wall and road repairs formed part of a grant allocated to Mayo County Council in 2019 under the small capital works programme. Mayo County Council has informed my Department that a contractor has recently been appointed to undertake the road works.

The Council further advised that works on the sea wall at the pier will commence shortly and will be completed before the end of the year.

Maintenance of the windsock at the helipad is also a matter for Mayo County Council. My officials have advised the Council that this issue was raised in the correspondence referred to by the Deputy, and have requested that they address this matter.

In my role as Minister for Minister for Rural and Community Development, I am hoping to be in a position to visit as many rural communities as possible when circumstances permit. However, the Deputy will appreciate that I am not in a position to make any specific diary commitments in relation to such matters at this stage while public health concerns over COIVID-19 continue.