Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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30. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will provide an update on the islands strategy; when the strategy will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62463/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Government is committed to publishing a 10 year policy on island development with associated three year action plans. Indeed the Programme for Government includes a commitment in this regard and, as Minister with responsibility for the islands, I am determined to ensure the policy is delivered.

The Deputy will be aware that an extensive consultation process has been completed by my Department, including meetings with island communities and relevant Government Departments and agencies. The feedback from this consultation process provided a valuable insight into the key priorities, and indeed challenges and opportunities, for our island communities.

The Government’s ambition for a national policy and action plan for the islands was set out in chapter 10 of Our Rural Future, the Action Plan for Rural Development 2021-2025,published in 2021.

The most recent meeting of the interdepartmental committee for the Islands, which is chaired by my Department, was held on 10 October 2022. The initial draft document was shared with committee members for the feedback and observations, both in terms of their Department’s draft input and the overall document.

Officials from my Department have had further engagement with individual Departments and agencies over the past few weeks, including meetings with the relevant Local Authorities, in order to finalise the actions for inclusion in the plan. That process has now been completed and the draft updated accordingly.

I expect a copy of the draft document to submitted to me before the end of the year, with a view to its publication in 2023.