Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 22 Oct 2003

Vol. 573 No. 1

Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Powers and Functions) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed).

Question again proposed: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

Dr. Devins

I wish to share my time with Deputy Dennehy. I welcome this Bill and I congratulate the Minister on bringing it before the House. People who live on the offshore islands have the same rights as those who live on the mainland. Services which we on the mainland take for granted, such as rail or bus transport or readily available air transport, have not generally been available to people living on the offshore islands, most of which are off the west coast. The depopulation of these islands over the past 50 years has been due in no small way to this lack of easy access to the mainland. Essential services such as medical care and education are much more difficult to deliver to people living on islands. The development of locally based industry has been hampered.

Since the development of air transport such as small commercial aircraft suitable for island hopping, the prospects of a readily accessible mode of transport to and from the islands and mainland has become very feasible. In that regard the outstanding success of Aer Arann is to be commended. From very small and humble beginnings, this airline has developed into a national carrier and recently commenced an international service. Today its aeroplanes connect many of our cities with Dublin. I speak with some knowledge of its excellent service on the Sligo-Dublin route on a regular basis in addition to many other routes.

This airline has its origin in flying from the Aran Islands to Galway. Other islands need to have such a facility but before this can come to pass, aerodromes must be in place. This Bill will allow the Minister to evaluate the need for such aerodromes. If the Minister of the day is satisfied that such an air service is necessary, it will allow him or her to initiate the process of providing the relevant facilities.

I am pleased that the Bill also confers on the Minister the same obligations with regard to sea travel. For countless centuries the only method of transport between the islands and the mainland has been by sea. One can only marvel at the strength of character of many generations of islanders who undertook these sea journeys in small currachs. Even today, travelling by sea off the west coast of Ireland in the security and comfort of a modern ferry vessel can be a daunting task. One can only have the height of respect for people who had to make these sea journeys in small, exposed boats in the past.

Some islands are badly in need of new jetties or piers. As in the case of aerodromes, this Bill will allow the Minister to provide these badly needed facilities. The nation has a duty to cherish all its citizens equally. The location of one's home should not be allowed to interfere with that duty. Other countries have successfully overcome the difficulties presented by people living in remote and far-flung places. I cite the example of Australia and the wonderful success of the flying doctor service. The success of this service is based on the principle of using small capacity aircraft in conjunction with the provision of small runways in inaccessible places. There is no reason why an air service based on similar principles cannot be used to open up the offshore islands. Perhaps the trend of falling population and emigration so endemic in these islands will be reversed.

A recent report suggested the provision of three new airstrips at Clifden and Inishbofin in County Galway and Tory Island in County Donegal. It also suggested that a helicopter service should be provided for the Mayo islands of Clare and Inishturk. I hope this Bill will help to progress the ideas contained in this report. I congratulate the Minister on his initiative and commend the Bill to the House.

Mr. Dennehy

Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a ghabháil leis an Aire. In particular, I compliment him for, as Deputy Devins said, taking the initiative on this issue. Over the years the Minister has shown total commitment, not just to the area where he lives and has worked for many years but also to the islands. This initiative is welcome.

In many ways islanders have been treated as second-class citizens. Last week I was almost ridiculed when I told somebody that I intended to speak on the Bill. It was said that the Bill is only concerned with transport and what interest did I have in the islands anyway. That is the essence of the approach we have taken to these people over the years.

For approximately 25 years I earned my living on the island of Haulbowline in the middle of Cork Harbour. Before somebody points out that this island is now linked to the mainland by a bridge, for many years we endured what the islanders are enduring, public transport by bus and then ferry to the island, a trip of some three miles over water. I missed many working days because of bad weather conditions, either storm or fog, and I can empathise with those who face these difficulties.

Despite the €30 million price tag for the cleaning up of Haulbowline, if we work on it we can make that island a jewel in the crown for tourism in the south of Ireland. This possibility was apparent to me even when the steelworks were operating there. The one island around the country with a fairly permanent residential figure is next door to it – Spike Island. I have discussed this previously with the Minister. People live there for a different reason, many of them being more or less a captive audience. These are the two islands with which I am most familiar.

As Deputy Devins said, the main inhabited islands are off the west coast. In west Cork we have thriving communities on Bere Island and others. The reasons they have survived are due to initiatives shown by individuals. They have not always had the support of Ministers and their Departments. At times that may have been because islands came under the remit of a junior Minister. That has changed and the Minister, Deputy Ó Cuív, has given an impetus to this issue.

I have seen the action taken in the past in regard to transport on Valentia Island which is also connected to the mainland. A transport service was begun and Portmagee, Cahirciveen and all the other areas are now linked to Valentia. This was due to the efforts of the wife of the great ex-footballer Mick O'Connell. This lady took the initiative and got a minibus service going. We have since recognised the importance of such transport provision which I pleaded would be replicated around the country in rural areas. We are now doing that. I was chairman of the health board which applied for it to be recognised under the social welfare grouping and advocated that compensation be paid to CIE and others for running a public service. That has happened and it shows that with initiative one can encourage a population and assist them to remain in their place of birth, to which all of the island people are emotionally committed.

Island life is changing on a practical and commercial level with the ability to work from home. The provision of broadband services is particularly critical. Television is important as a pastime resource. Deputy Devins emphasised the importance of air transport in the context of the islands. All of the above has helped. The price of land on the mainland has highlighted the benefits of owning land on an island. If the playing pitch is levelled some more we will see people returning to live on the islands. Islanders are tough and hardy people, most of them coming from fishing stock. They need the support of all Departments, particularly the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. I agree with Deputy Devins that we can reverse the trend and put people back on the islands if the initiative is there and benefits are provided.

While I am happy with the contents of the Bill which is a technical one in many respects, I question the need for it. There should be provision for the Minister to bring in an order. There is something wrong when he has to come back to the House on these matters. He should have the power to move on issues like this without having to refer back. No direct financial implications arise from the legislation. I hope it will send a clear message that money could not buy, namely, that we support the right of people to live on the islands and their need for the same facilities and conditions as exist on the mainland. Again, comh ghairdeas chun an Aire. I commend the Bill to the House.

Mr. Connaughton

I welcome the Bill, which is a short one. I appreciate the reason for it, as I am a member of the Committee of Public Accounts. It is a housekeeping Bill more than anything else. While I might not always agree with Deputy Dennehy, I concur with his sentiments today. I have a grá for people who live on the islands.

The Comptroller and Auditor General was not impressed when he examined what took place in regard to ferry travel to the Aran Islands. That is not, however, the purpose of today's business. Irrespective of how we organise it, we have a duty to the people who live on our islands, which are part of our heritage, and this cannot be done cheaply. Although I was far from happy with the contract process for the ferry service, I went to great lengths at that Public Accounts Committee meeting to ensure that the service would continue. It is hard to believe that a company could get an extension of a contract for seven years without going to public tender. Something was evidently wrong as far as that was concerned but that is a matter for another day.

The ferry service is currently subsidised at a cost of €4.2 million and while I wish to see value for money I accept that we should pay a subsidy for this service. We all know what will happen if it is withdrawn. Apart from anything else, it is a significant revenue earner for the tourism sector.

Though not much more than four miles of my constituency borders the sea, I have always had great time for those who live and work on the islands. It is only fair to point to the massive impositions and penalties with which they have to put up, though I will not go through all of them today. People try to convince me that new technologies such as the Internet mean living on an island is a piece of cake but it is not. There is a surcharge on everything one does on an island. When one tries to build a house, it is twice as expensive as anywhere else due to extra transport and energy costs. In my life and in my political career I have tried to do whatever I can for disadvantaged populations, of which those who live on the islands certainly constitute one. While there are other disadvantaged groups in society, there is a particular disadvantage involved in being a member of an island community. Island communities are part of what we are and the only way we can hope to revitalise them is by improving their living and working conditions.

To be fair to the Minister, he had a great interest in these matters, even before he took office. That almost goes without saying. Other than its technical aspects which are self-evident to anyone who examines it, I wonder if the Bill would have been considered necessary had it not been for the comments of the Comptroller and Auditor General. Obviously, it was. I have been around long enough to realise that the provisions made are necessary in the final analysis. I wish to widen the debate, however, to connect it with the ethos informing the Minister's actions.

Superficially, the ethos is to improve island life by facilitating access and providing better transport services for schoolchildren to give island dwellers the same crack of the whip as people elsewhere. I do not wish to be overly critical but I understood the Minister's intention on receipt of his seal of office was that the work we are seeing in respect of the islands would form part of a wider strategy of regional development in the west. I have known him for a long time and we come from the same background. As far as people who share that background are concerned, he says all the right things but nothing is done. Is it the case, as it appears, that he has no responsibility because his Department cannot touch other Departments which are sovereign? Unless he gets a grip and dictates what happens, the niceties of which he speaks will fall on deaf ears.

A huge number of things are happening in the west which form a prototype for what the Minister wishes to do in respect of the Aran Islands. The islands should be considered in relation to the western seaboard and the west should be considered in relation to the east coast as the differences in each case are almost the same. The most amazing things are happening this year. An investigation carried out by international consultants, Indecon, a company which has no hand in government or opposition, tells us that NDP road projects on the east coast are funded at a rate of 140% while the rate of funding for projects in the west is as low as 48.7%.

Éamon Ó Cuív

It is 80%.

Mr. Connaughton

I will provide the information for the Minister as it was received. Indecon reports that the growing disparity in the amount being spent on the east at the expense of the BMW region is worrying. The report clearly highlights overspending on the roads programme in the eastern region. In 2002 the rate of road investment in the south and eastern regions was 140% compared to rate of only 48.7% in the BMW region.

Éamon Ó Cuív

That might be in one year.

Mr. Connaughton

The report is factually correct. Neither the Minister nor I had anything to do with it which leaves us out of the equation. I do not have to come to Leinster House to know that what the report states is accurate. I am aware the Minister agrees with me but the Government is doing nothing about it. I saw the fuss on television four or five weeks ago when the new plaza on the M50 was opened by the Minister for Transport. No more than three hours later, the largest tailback in three months had formed as the traffic allowed through the plaza was blocked further up and down the M50. This suggested to the gurus who are supposed to run the city's traffic system that another lane was needed, despite the fact that such a provision is last on the list of recommendations in the national development plan. I am not an expert on the Dublin Port tunnel but documentary evidence proves that when completed, a great many lorries will be spewed onto the M50. Even before they arrive, we are told we need another lane.

Every time the Minister and I hear this sort of thing, we know it is a case of reacting to the child who cries first. Where is the funding to come from? I have spent a lifetime at this but appear to be getting nowhere. As a Minister, Deputy Ó Cuív has failed to get anywhere so far. Millions of euro must be ring-fenced to be spent on properly evaluated, sound economic projects in the areas for which they are planned, irrespective of what happens anywhere else. Whether another lane is wanted on the M50, a major road or railway through the west should be built. There is no miracle involved in ring-fencing. It had to be done ten years ago or the farmers of the south would have taken up the entire milk quota, though that was, admittedly, a much smaller matter.

If western and regional development and the spatial strategy are to mean anything, the projects which are believed to be important must be funded. As far as I can see, not one major road project has been initiated in the BMW region this year. Though bits of projects may have been finalised, there is no comparison with what is happening around Dublin city.

Éamon Ó Cuív

No—

Mr. Connaughton

It makes no difference how often the Minister interrupts. The people know it to be the case. I do not know what the Minister's office is like but those of his colleagues must be packed to the ceiling with designs, plans and documents on future projects. I will not be hypocritical. While I agree with much of what the Minister says, he is delivering very little. That is what the communities are saying as the Government will find out at the local elections next June.

The Minister's heart lies in the provision of a western rail link. As far as the consultants were concerned, it did not even get a look in and they are the ones who matter. I met them as a member of Galway County Council's road transportation committee, on which I sat until one month ago. It made a very strong case for at least a limited experiment on the railway line between Galway and Athlone but it was not even referred to in the report.

Debate adjourned.

Sitting suspended at 1.30 p.m. and resumed at 2.30 p.m.