Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 September 2023
58. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development when she will publish a new policy and action plan for the development of our offshore islands; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41172/23]
View answerI am representing Deputy Cathal Crowe. The question relates to the plan for offshore island development.
I thank the Deputy very much for raising this. I am pleased to inform him that I launched Our Living Islands, an ambitious new ten-year national policy designed to support vibrant and sustainable island communities, in June of this year. Our Living Islands is the first whole-of-government policy for the islands to be published in 27 years. It is accompanied by the first action plan for the period 2023 to 2026 and includes 80 new time-bound actions that have been agreed to and will be implemented by various stakeholders, led by a nominated Department or State agency. Our Living Islands is underpinned by five high-level strategic objectives, identified by islanders themselves as being of key importance for the sustainable future of their communities.
The action plan has a real focus on improving housing and water infrastructure, better access to essential services in health and education, delivering high-speed broadband, supporting remote working, and further developing outdoor amenities and sustainable tourism.
Our overarching ambition for this policy is to see more people living on our islands, more people working on our islands and more people choosing to raise a family on our islands. The ambitious policy has been developed following an extensive consultation process with island communities and other stakeholders, which enabled them to express their views as to the challenges and opportunities associated with living on islands. Our Living Islands is a whole-of-government policy. I acknowledge the co-operation and support from colleagues across other Departments in its development.
I thank the Minister. She referred to her trip down to the Beara Peninsula. She popped to Bere Island for a quick visit. We could have brought her to so many islands on that visit, including Cape Clear, Sherkin Island, Long Island and Dursey Island, which she is also very familiar with. All those islands have common challenges. The Minister referred to many of them. In the first part of question, I would like to refer to the challenge of housing. Island communities are trying desperately to attract people to live on them. This is referred to in the action plan the Minister spoke about but I would like to elaborate on it. I am aware there are calls for a special approved housing body with a focus on the islands and that there has been a call for a specific action plan on housing. There was a very innovative idea for Cape Clear, which was to build what was called "gateway housing". All the locals wanted to build was four houses but they were refused planning permission by Cork County Council. If they had been granted planning permission, the four houses would have been used as a gateway for young families, couples and others who wanted to try island life. These people would have been incentivised to move to the island and would have lived in the houses at a very low rent. It would have given them an opportunity to get a flavour of island life. These are the types of initiatives I would love to see us pushing.
I thank the Deputy. I was on Bere Island. In fact, I logged in from that island to attend a Cabinet meeting remotely. I think that was the first time that happened. They actually have really good ideas on the island. I met some of the people in the community. Some of them went all the way to Arranmore for the launch of the policy. It was good to see them there because it is a long journey from Donegal to Bere Island.
Croí Cónaithe is a really good scheme, as the Deputy knows. If you live on an island, you get an additional payment to renovate a derelict vacant property. It will make a difference because housing is a big issue on the islands. There is no doubt about that; it was the thing that came through. We also have to ascertain how to improve the wastewater systems of the islands. There are many factors concerning other Departments. We now have the need ten-year national policy and it is accompanied by a three-year action plan with 80 time-bound actions. I have to hold the toes of the other Departments to the fire and give them a good toasting if they do not deliver. That is the way it works.
No better Minister.
I will do that.
Will it be smokeless coal in the fire?
Sorry, what are you talking about?
Let us try to restore a bit of order.
Tá mé finished.
I ask Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan to bring a bit of west-Cork sense to this.
I thank the Minister, as always, for her colourful response. I know there is great passion. The Minister got the sense about the islands. I would really like the gateway housing innovation on Cape Clear to be considered further because it was a great idea. Cape Clear is an island that the Minister would be more than welcome to visit. To get people back living on our islands and encourage people to move to them, we need to be innovative and think outside the box.
The other challenge we have on islands is the provision of education and healthcare. To give an example, I will refer to Cape Clear again. Its community is really struggling to recruit personnel for its primary school. It has one primary school and it is so important in attracting families to the island. The community also has issues in recruiting proper cover for healthcare – for example, community nurses. Perhaps we should consider something like an innovative tax exemption for professions such as those of teachers, nurses and doctors. I do not know what that tax exemption would be. I would not go so far as to make the islands tax havens but there should be some type of tax exemption to encourage professionals to have a little change of lifestyle and move out to the gorgeous islands we have in places like west Cork.
These are all areas that impact on other Departments but I am happy to raise them with the various Ministers to see how we can make our islands more vibrant and have more people living on them. There is a great sense of positivity on the islands at the moment. The islanders see a bright future. Arranmore is a particularly good example. There is a good remote working hub on the island. Tourism has been developed and many things are happening. We want to build on that. Each Department has a role to play and I will certainly work with my colleagues to ensure the islands get the support they deserve.
