Deputy Molloy has been given permission to raise the subject matter of Questions Nos. 1 and 215 on today's Order Paper.
Adjournment Debate. - Offshore Island Facilities.
Thank you for giving me permission to raise this matter. I am very sorry that I have found it necessary to do so. I had put down two questions to the Taoiseach, one merely seeking to establish the population residing on each of the offshore islands and the main question asking whether he agreed that the needs of these islanders required special treatment and the steps his Government proposed to meet those needs. When the Order Paper appeared that question had been transferred to the Minister for Finance. I was seeking a statement from the Taoiseach on Government policy to provide for the needs of the people residing there. I am somewhat puzzled as to why the question should have been referred to the Minister for Finance, and I am grateful to the Chair for allowing me to raise the matter. It would not have been necessary if it had been dealt with in the ordinary way.
It is important to realise that there are possibly over 10,000 people residing on our offshore islands. All these people are located on islands in remote areas far removed from modern facilities, transport etc. It is more difficult for them to survive than for people living in urban areas. Some of these islands are connected to the mainland, but a large number of them are very isolated, some as far as ten or 12 miles out into the ocean.
The central development committee which is located within the Department of Finance was established some years ago and reported in 1979, making recommendations for improvements to facilities which were deemed to be absolutely essential for the residents of those islands. That report was accepted by the then Fianna Fáil Government and some of the proposals were implemented. Since the Coalition Government have come into office there has been a great silence in regard to the needs of islanders. I would appreciate it if the Minister for Finance would state categorically the Government attitude towards the people living on remote offshore islands, especially those islands which are not connected to the mainland. These people have many difficulties in trying to survive and it is important that the Government should give a clear indication of their commitment.
It is well known that there is a body of opinion within Government Departments that it would be much wiser and much cheaper to transfer all these people from the islands to the mainland. It would cost the Government a lot less and remove what is considered by some people in the Government service to be a problem. I want to establish whether the Government subscribe to that notion. If they do not, there is an obligation on them to proceed with the provision of proper services for the people living on these islands.
Many services have already been provided, but in the main transport has been the intractable difficulty confronting most people living on the islands. Roughly 1,200 people live on the two large Donegal islands, Arranmore and Tory. In my constituency of Galway there are four large islands with a population of over 1,500. I consider these people to be a very important part of the nation, a section of our community whom we should cherish. We should make every effort to ensure that they can continue to reside in their home place.
The islands are very much part of our heritage. There are many great historical connections going back over the centuries and some of our oldest and most valuable monuments are located on these islands. There we can see the only remaining examples of the traditional Irish way of life. Many of the islands are Gaeltacht areas, which gives them a special importance, and the islands have been a great fountain of Irish culture through the years.
It is important to know what Government policy is in regard to these islands. If there is a commitment to provide for the needs of the islanders then let us see some action. I have very close connections with the islanders in my constituency and I am fully aware of the frustration they have been experiencing due to the great silence from the Government and the doubt as to whether the Government believe in maintaining the population on the islands.
Residents living on the three large Aran Islands off the Galway coast have been wondering for two years what decisions will be made in regard to transport. The life blood of the Aran Islands is the sea transport facility. For the past 25 years CIE have been charged with the responsibility of providing a freight service with a vessel known as the Naomh Eanna, which is now coming to the end of her seaworthy life. It is doubtful whether she will pass her seaworthiness test next year. I understand she may have just scraped through it this year. There are rumours about the condition of the boat and some of the islanders fear for their lives when travelling on it. Her sea life is coming very rapidly to an end. The only other vessel serving the islands is the Galway Bay, a passenger vessel which operated during the summer months, but it has been sold and will not be available next year.
An island community of about 1,500 people are dependent on transport by these boats, for food, furniture, building materials and everything needed to sustain life. The antiquated system of serving the small islands will not do in the eighties. The island communities on Inisheer and Inishmaan have had to row out in small canvas currachs in all types of weather to transport goods off the Naomh Eanna. Anybody who has witnessed this operation must agree that it is absolutely inhuman. It is an antiquated system which must be brought to an end as quickly as possible. Men have had to submerge themselves in the sea in the middle of winter and there is a high prevalence of arthritis among the male community due to the severe wettings involved in transporting goods to and from the Naomh Eanna. That cannot be allowed to continue much longer.
There has been silence from every Government Department regarding the facilities to be provided to replace the transport arrangements. The frustration of the islanders has reached a stage where they have come together and put forward their own proposals for the building of new ships with roll-on roll-off facilities, thus eliminating the necessity for the use of currachs. Animals had to swim out to the boats and be hauled on board by the use of ropes. This caused great cruelty to the animals and grave risk to the lives of the islanders.
Why the Government are not in a position to state what their actions will be is a matter of great concern and is causing dissatisfaction among the island communities. I hope the Minister will not pass the buck and say that is a matter for the Minister for Communications. If the Government are committed to providing proper facilities it will do me tonight if the Minister says that a commitment is there and that he, as Minister for Finance, will be prepared to make funds available for the new vessels which are so urgently required.
It is coming close to the time when timetables for the 1985 tourist season will have to be published. Even at this stage we do not know what vessels will be available. We do not know what will replace the Galway Bay, which has a carrying capacity of 400 or 500 passengers, nor do we know what facilities will be available to replace the Naomh Eanna, if she passes her sea test this autumn and is put back into service for possibly her last year at sea. She is a most unsatisfactory craft. She is not able to come alongside the islands, thus imposing a terrible hardship on the island men who have to row out to collect food for the islands.
The small industries which are trying to survive on these islands have to tolerate these antiquated facilities. It was a great shame that the Government allowed the situation to go so far that the community had to come together, appoint their own consultants, approach their own shipbuilder and nearly design the ideal type of craft which they know will best meet their needs. To this day, they do not know if the Government will support their proposals nor do they know what type of transport facilities will be available in 1985 and the years ahead.
I do not know why the Minister for Communications has remained so quiet nor why there has been so much toing and froing of reports. At an early stage the B & I were brought in and they reported. That was then referred to the Department of Transport who referred it to CIE. Then CIE referred it back to the Department of Transport, who referred it back to B & I. They sent it to the Department of Communications again. No decision was made at any stage. The islanders' frustration is justified. The Minister must have some concern for the conditions these worthy citizens have tolerated over the years and I hope he will indicate tonight that the Government have a positive policy. If he cannot make a comprehensive statement tonight surely he will give an assurance that such a statement will be made in the near future.
The Minister is aware of the meetings which have taken place on Clare Island and the meetings which will take place in Donegal this weekend, the second such meetings of representatives of all the inhabited islands around the coast. Why has that frustration been allowed to develop? It has developed because of a total lack of interest by the Government in the needs of those people. Previously the Department of the Gaeltacht provided funds to the local authorities to repair and maintain roads on Gaeltacht islands. Now that the Coalition have decided to withdraw all Gaeltacht road grants, there are no funds available for the repair and maintenance of roads on Gaeltacht islands. The Minister probably is not even aware of that.
There are difficulties with the electricity system on the Aran Islands and the co-operatives have encountered many difficulties when dealing with the ESB. If a proper policy were to be implemented the Government should be asked to take complete control and responsibility for the generation of electricity on those islands. There is a long litany of complaints which can be made of matters which we do not expect the Government to solve overnight, but it would be very helpful if they gave an indication of their concern and said they had a policy which they intended implementing and so help reduce the fear which is genuinely held among our island community that this Government do not care.
I hope the Minister gives a commitment that he will treat the off-shore islands as a special case. Up to now under this Government the islands have been completely ignored. I intend to confine my remarks to Donegal. The Fianna Fáil Government made money available for the provision of a ferry in Donegal. While Fianna Fáil were in power from 1977 to 1981 £15,000 was made available each year to Donegal County Council for the repair and maintenance of those roads. Immediately the Coalition came into power the provision of this money was stopped. It is no wonder that the Coalition candidates got only ten votes on all the islands off the west coast of Donegal.
On Arranmore there is a factory about which I made representations to the Minister for the Gaeltacht on a number of occasions. Repairs to this factory are urgently needed. There is no way we can attract industrialists to the islands until the necessary work is carried out. I hope this Government will give an assurance tonight that second level schools will be available on all the islands. We have a new slipway on Arranmore island and I am very proud of the ferry service but unfortunately it will not be able to operate during the winter because a bollard is needed so that the boat can be guided in properly when the seas are heavy. On Inishboffin all we are asking for is the erection of a winch step. In fairness to the Department of Finance it must be said that the money has been provided but I hope the Minister will use his good offices to ensure that this is erected as soon as possible. Tory Island requires harbour development and a ferry service. I am asking for very little compared to what is being given on the mainland and I hope the Minister treats the island as a very special case. These islands have been completely ignored by this Government. The boats could land at an area on Arranmore Island known as Aphort, but unfortunately they have to go to Burtonport because this Government will not provide funds to extend the slipway and the pier.
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the Fianna Fáil members of the European Parliament who have taken the initiative and tabled a resolution in that Parliament calling for measures to assist the islands of the Community which are under threat of being abandoned. I call on the Minister to give full support to that resolution and to ensure that a detailed study of the social, economic, educational, health and cultural issues on the islands are carried out. I ask the Minister to ensure that second level education is available on all islands, regardless of population numbers. The islands are unique. They are a special case and should not be bound by the regulations which apply to mainland Europe.
I want to begin by refuting the allegation of both Deputies on the opposite side who claimed that this Government do not care about the people who live on the islands off the west coast. Neither has any foundation for making an allegation of that kind nor has either Deputy, particularly Deputy Molloy, any grounds for saying in the House this evening that we have never even considered such matters when he knows quite well that he and I discussed a number of those matters in this House during the budget debate this year and also I think during the budget debate last year. I am afraid the Deputy is suffering from a certain lapse of memory. I wish to assure the House——
What decision did the Minister make?
I know the Deputy has a very short fuse — and it is sparking now as usual — but since I am making the kind of statement he wanted me to make perhaps he would be good enough to be quite and listen. I want to assure the House that nothing could be further from the truth than to say that we wish to ignore the islands off the western coast or any other islands. I do not know where the body of opinion is to which the Deputy referred that holds it would be cheaper to ship all the people from the islands and install them on the mainland. Perhaps the Deputy would have a word with me afterwards and inform me about this. I have never come across it, and it is not something to which this Government would subscribe. I do not think the Deputy needs any telling about that.
I want to make a few technical points if I may, because I was somewhat surprised to find this matter coming up on the Adjournment this evening. If I may say so, Sir, without being offensive to the Chair, it seems to me rather curious that we should be discussing on the Adjournment the subject matter of a question that is on the Order Paper. I leave it to the Chair to give me guidance as to whether that is a usual practice. I do not think it is, but I am open to correction.
From his long experience as a Deputy and from the fact that he was a member of a Government, Deputy Molloy knows that when Deputies put down questions that relate to two different areas of competence in the Government they are usually — in fact almost always — split up for answer between the two Ministers concerned. The Deputy put down a question that had to do with population and with general policy. The Taoiseach answers questions regarding the statistics of population and I answer questions on general policy for the non-Gaeltacht inhabited islands of the west coast. The Deputy should not be surprised to find that I do that because we travelled over this ground on Question No. 115 which the Deputy tabled and which appeared on the Order Paper for 28 June. We dealt with the matter on that date, and for the Deputy to say that the Government have never said anything about what they intend to do with regard to these islands is not true.
There was nothing in the answer.
He is not even taking account of the fact that he himself put down the question some months ago. I was outside the barrier in this House this afternoon when the Deputy's fuse lit up on this question and I was amazed to find him doing that. I really felt, if I might use the vulgar parlance, that he had "thrown the head" and he was probably as surprised as I was to find the matter appearing as a question on the Adjournment this evening.
As the Deputy is aware, and as I told him last June, my particular area of responsibility is the inhabited non-Gaeltacht islands. Both of the Deputies on the other side have raised questions that refer to Gaeltacht islands which are properly the province of the Minister for the Gaeltacht, and I do not intend to trespass on his area——
The Minister for the Gaeltacht has nothing to do with the area of transport or education.
—— except in so far as it refers to my own general remarks at the beginning, which is that we are anxious to ensure that proper facilities are made available for the people of all the islands. So far as it comes within my competence under the Central Development Committee we are working to provide these facilities. I do not know if it is the proper thing to do, but in order to respond to the Deputy I propose to give him the answer I had intended to give to the question he has on the Order Paper. I do not know if that is in order or out of order but I will take a chance ——
The Minister has no problem there.
I am very glad to hear that, because I think the Deputy deserves an answer having found himself here, probably somewhat to his surprise. A number of Departments are involved in services for the islands. The Deputy has pointed out that Roinn na Gaeltachta are involved, as are my own Department and the Department of Communications. I do not intend to go over the history of the CDC with which the Deputy is familiar. Under the schemes and studies of the CDC a number of special provisions were made for islands off the west coast. They include housing grants and loans and grants under the supplementary housing accommodation scheme operated by Bord Fáilte. In addition to that, a number of proposals regarding water and sewerage services were made to local authorities and the ESB extended their service to a number of islands. Progress on the implementation of that decision following a report of the CDC in 1979 is monitored by a sub-committee of the CDC.
Both Deputies referred to landing facilities which are of particular importance to the islands. I am glad to say we have made some progress in this area in recent times. The Office of Public Works recently completed work on the improvement of landing facilities at Clare Island and in July of this year work began on improvements to the pier at Roonagh Point which serves Clare Island. The OPW are currently finalising contract documents with a view to inviting tenders for work on improvements to the landing facilities at Inishboffin.
The Deputies also referred to the situation in relation to Arranmore. All the necessary steps have been taken to facilitate the starting of the ferry service there, including an initial financial provision to ensure that the service gets into operation. In relation to the service to the Aran Islands as raised by Deputy Molloy, I have seen one proposal for the provision of vessels for a service to these islands but that was found to be unsuitable. I have not seen any other proposal. If another proposal is put forward, I assume it will go in the first instance to the Minister for Communications and if there are expenditure implications it will come to me. I can assure the House and the Deputies that any such proposal ——
That is a disgrace. There is a proposal there for two years. That is what is causing the frustration.
The Deputy seems to be far more interested in shouting about frustration which has been building up for many years and not simply since December 1982.
There has been a silence for two years.
I remember commitments going back to 1947 in relation to some of those islands which were never carried out. They were made by a then distinguished member of the Deputy's party and they may not have done a lot for the level of frustration of the people of the islands.
The Minister should stick to his responsibility in the matter for the past two years.
If any new proposal comes forward it will get proper consideration. If it can be financed within the overall limit of the finance available and if it will improve the situation of the islands it will start ahead of the game. I cannot give any undertaking tonight in relation to any project that I have not yet seen.
Does the Minister know about the B & I report that has been floating around for the last few years?
The Dáil adjourned at 9 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 1 November 1984.