Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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15. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development further to Parliamentary Question No. 401 of 19 January 2023, the date on which the new policy for the islands will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9083/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware from our previous discussions on this matter, as Minister with responsibility for the islands, I am determined to deliver on the Government commitment to publishing an islands policy.

This is a commitment that I have made to this House and indeed to the Island Communities, publicly and during my visits to the islands, and is set out in both the Programme for Government and in the rural development policy, Our Rural Future, which I published almost two years ago.

The Deputy will understand from her own constituency that our island communities are unique and, while they face many of the same challenges as their counterparts on the mainland, their experience can be quite different due to the added complexity in accessing even the most basic services.

This idea of developing an islands policy is to try and get an all of Government approach by bringing together the various stakeholders across Government Departments and State bodies, and put together a more co-ordinated approach to the islands.

The establishment of the inter-Departmental committee, chaired by my Department, is just one part of the jigsaw. The extensive public consultation with island communities gave them an opportunity to set the agenda and forms the basis of development for this policy. I believe the policy alone is not enough - it needs a solid action plan, and that's where we are now.

It is taking longer than we had hoped but I really believe it is important to get meaningful actions into this plan. I've gone back to my officials to look for stronger actions, and I'll be pushing my Government colleagues on this too when I bring it to the Cabinet committee.