Vol. 513 No. 3
80 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if a final decision has been made not to implement the commitment made by the Government to introduce a special islander allowance; and, if not, when the commitment will be honoured. [2360/00]
As I stated in my reply to Question No. 349 of 16 November 1999, the question of an islander allowance is basically a budgetary issue on which a final decision was to be made, one way or the other, in the context of the recent budget. The Deputy will be aware that such an allowance was not introduced in the recent budget, and I do not propose to pursue the matter further at this stage. However, my Department will continue to assist in every other way possible to reduce the cost of living for island communities.
