Holly Cairns
Ceist:923. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the estimated date for the publication of the islands action plan. [13512/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 30 June 2020
Ceisteanna (923)
Freagraí scríofa
As the Deputy will be aware, the Government established an Interdepartmental Committee for Island Development in July last year and, following meetings of this committee, a work plan was agreed for the preparation of an islands policy and subsequent action plan.
As part of this process, a consultation paper, with input from relevant Government Departments was prepared and published. This consultation paper set out information on services that are currently being provided to the islands which would form the basis for the consultation process.
Since January this year, officials of my Department arranged a series of consultation meetings to provide island communities the opportunity to offer their views and opinions on a future islands policy and to discuss island necessities.
To date, meetings have taken place on eleven islands as follows:
|
Islands |
Date |
|
Sherkin |
9 January 2020 |
|
Whiddy |
10 January 2020 |
|
Dursey |
10 January 2020 |
|
Bere Island |
17 January 2020 |
|
Inis Oírr |
22 January 2020 |
|
Inis Mór |
29 January 2020 |
|
Inis Meáin |
30 January 2020 |
|
Heir |
7 February 2020 |
|
Long |
7 February 2020 |
|
Cléire |
7 February 2020 |
|
Árainn Mhór |
13 February 2020 |
The public consultation element of the process has had to be temporarily postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The next step in the process will be to arrange meetings on the remaining islands and with relevant stakeholders, including state bodies who provide services to the islands. Once this aspect of the work has been completed, it is intended that the new Islands Policy will be agreed by Government and published, following on from which an action plan based on the policy will be developed.
The Deputy will be pleased to learn that this work has been identified as a priority in the recently agreed Programme for Government.