Vol. 354 No. 10
asked the Minister for Finance if he will list the main recommendations for improvements made by the Sub-Committee on inhabited non-Gaeltacht off-shore islands of the Central Development Committee; and decisions made by this Government to implement any of those recommendations.
185.
asked the Minister for Finance the date of the last meeting of the Sub-Committee on inhabited non-Gaeltacht off-shore islands of the Central Development Committee.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to take Questions Nos. 184 and 185 together.
As the Deputy is aware, the Government established a Sub-Committee of the Central Development Committee following its decision in February of 1979 regarding measures to improve conditions on the inhabited non-Gaeltacht islands off the West coast. The primary purpose of establishing the committee was to monitor the implementation of the various elements of the Government decision and to assist in resolving any difficulties that might arise in the course of such implementation. The sub-committee met regularly through 1979 and 1980 at the end of which time positive steps had been taken by the various agencies concerned to implement the main specifics of the Government decision. Since then the view has been taken that the sub-committee, which is composed of representatives of the large number of agencies affected by the decision, should meet only when issues requiring multi-agency attention in relation to the islands arose. The Committee last met in March of 1983 to review progress in relation to the islands generally. Both prior to then and since then island issues involving single state agencies have been handled by the agency concerned with where the occasion arose, the assistance of the Secretariat of the Central Development Committee and the County Development Team concerned.
As will be apparent from the foregoing it was not a primary function of the sub-committee to make recommendations regarding conditions on the islands but rather to monitor the implementation of Government decisions already taken; this the sub-committee has done. However as I informed the Deputy in the Adjournment Debate on 31 October 1984 the Government continue to be keenly aware of the special difficulties which confront the inhabitants of off-shore islands. In this regard I am happy to report, as evidence of the Government's concrete commitment to improving conditions on the islands that money was made available this year to enable the commencement of improvement works to the pier at Roonagh Point which serves Clare Island, County Mayo, and that the preparation of contract documents for the construction of a new pier at Inishbofin, County Galway, is nearing completion. Given demands on the capital allocation to the Office of Public Works for 1985, however, it is not yet possible to say when work will commence on the Inishbofin project.
186.
asked the Minister for Finance if the Sub-Committee on inhabited non-Gaeltacht off-shore islands of the Central Development Committee made any recommendations regarding the provision of an air service to Inishbofin, County Galway; and if any steps will be made to implement such recommendation.
The Sub-Committee of the Central Development Committee to which the Deputy refers was set up by the Government in 1979 to monitor the implementation of the Government's decision of February 1979, regarding measures to improve conditions on inhabited non-Gaeltacht islands off the West coast. As the measures covered by the Government's decision did not include any reference to the provision of an air service to any of the islands concerned the sub-committee did not subsequently make any recommendation in relation thereto.
However as a result, among other things of representations by the Deputy the Secretariat of the Central Development Committee and the Galway County Development Team examined in some detail the possibility of providing an air service to Inishbofin. The conclusion of that examination was that the provision of an airstrip given the physical conditions on the island would be prohibitively expensive and that in any event there was almost no prospect of a viable service being established to the island even if an airstrip were constructed there. In the event it was decided by the then Minister that the better way to improve communications to Inishbofin was to provide better landing facilities on the island. As the Deputy will be aware the Office of Public Works is currently finalising contract documents with a view to seeking tenders for the construction of a new pier on the island.
I might mention in passing that the conclusions of the examination carried out by my Department and by the Galway County Development Team were accepted by all of my predecessors since 1979 including a number of Ministers for Finance from the Deputy's own party.
