asked the Minister for Finance if he is aware that there is no scheme in operation in any Department to grant aid ferry services to non-Gaeltacht islands; if he will rectify this matter and approve grant aid towards the cost of a new ferry boat for Inishbofin, County Galway which is urgently required.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Ferry Services to non-Gaeltacht Islands.
6.
I am aware that no scheme exists to grant-aid ferry services to non-Gaeltacht islands. In view of the serious state of the public finances, I regret that I am not in a position to start introducing new schemes of public expenditure to finance ferry services generally or a particular service for Inishbofin, County Galway.
That is very disappointing news. Is the Minister aware that the only ferryboat to Inisbofin, because of Department of Communications transport regulations, is restricted in the number of passengers it can carry, that the operator was instructed — or forced — to acquire a vessel which would comply with the marine regulations, that to do so it was necessary for him to purchase a new boat, that the acquisition of the new boat and the planning of it have proceeded to a certain stage but that unless there is some State assistance towards the acquisition of the vessel Inisbofin will be without an adequate ferry service and that that is a very serious matter for the islanders and the whole economy of that small area?
I appreciate what the Deputy is saying but unfortunately it is my duty and responsibility to do my utmost in the context of the Government's decisions to manage the State's finances, and we just do not have the money.
Can I take it from the Minister's reply that the proposal of the Taoiseach when he was Leader of the then Opposition that there should be a helicopter station in Galway with services at a cost of £1.2 million to the Department of Defence also is cancelled?
The Deputy is widening the scope of the question. The question deals with ferries.
It is a separate question.
Would the Minister agree that the net Exchequer cost of that proposal is of the order of £1.2 million?
The Deputy is imparting information rather than seeking it.
Very necessary obviously, a Cheann Comhairle.
It is a sad day for Inishbofin after all the promises made during the election campaign.
There will be a different result in the next term.