Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 February 2023
34. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development when work commenced on the development of an Island Plan or Policy; when it is now hoped to publish it; the reason for the delay in doing this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9176/23]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Government is committed to publishing an islands policy, as per the Programme for Government commitment and the commitments made in Our Rural Future.
The Cabinet agreed in July 2019 that a new Inter-Departmental Committee for islands be established to develop a national policy for the inhabited offshore islands. The committee was formed from 12 participating Departments.
The public consultation process commenced in early 2020, but due to the risks posed by the emergence of Covid-19, the Department was obliged to temporarily suspend the consultation process in April 2020. The process resumed in January 2021 and significant progress has been made since then.
I received a draft of the policy before Christmas. While it’s clear that a lot a work has been done in getting the draft policy to this stage, I believe there’s more work needed to firm up the text and, more importantly, the actions. As Minister with responsibility for the islands, I am determined to ensure the policy is delivered. Our island communities been waiting a long time for this policy and I’m not going to settle for more of the same from State bodies if that doesn’t deliver anything better for the islands. I want to see them committing to meaningful actions in this plan.
On that basis, I’ve gone back to my officials and asked them to re-engage with colleagues across Government Departments and agencies to revisit the document and make sure that this Islands Policy is accompanied by a robust Action Plan.I’m determined that this policy will be finalised as soon as possible, so that I can bring it to Government for approval and get it published. But I won’t do that until I’m satisfied that it contains credible actions that will make a difference to our island communities.
