Island Communities Dail Éireann — 2023-04-25 ============================================================ Paul Donnelly (SF), Dublin West I ask the Minister provide an update on the forthcoming islands strategy, when the strategy will be published and if she will make a statement on the matter. Heather Humphreys (FG), Cavan-Monaghan As the Deputy will be aware, the Government is committed to publishing an islands policy in line with the programme for Government commitment, as well as commitments made in Our Rural Future. The process of developing the policy has taken longer than I would like. However, I am determined to take the time necessary to get it right. That is no more than our island communities deserve, because it is more than 25 years since the Government last published an islands development policy. I received an initial draft of the policy before Christmas and, since then, officials from my Department have been engaging very intensively with colleagues across all Departments and agencies to tie down firm commitments and agree robust actions to be taken over the next three years. It goes without saying that any islands policy must be developed in consultation with island communities. As the Deputy will be aware, an extensive public consultation process took place as part of the development of this policy. Since then, officials from my Department have remained in contact with the islands representative body, Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann. They met with them in recent weeks to discuss the draft policy, its strategic objectives, timelines and the next steps in the process. I am pleased that the policy and accompanying action plan is nearing completion and I expect to present it to Government for approval in the coming weeks. This is an issue the Leas-Cheann Comhairle has raised with me on a number of occasions. We are very close to having it finished. Then, it will have to be translated and I will have to bring it to Government. Simon Coveney (FG), Cork South-Central There are currently 11 staff within my Department who are working with the European Union in Brussels.  *In addition to these 11, there is 1 staff member - a seconded national expert - seconded to the European Commission, in Washington D.C. I can also confirm there are currently no vacant posts. The tables below set out the number of staff, their present roles, and responsibilities and also the corresponding figures on 23 June 2016. Table 1 - Officers seconded to the Department of Foreign Affairs to work on behalf of my Department at the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the European Union in Brussels: Table 2 – Seconded to the European Commission, Brussels and Washington, to work as Seconded National Experts (SNEs).   There were no staff of my Department seconded to the European Commission, Brussels as SNEs in 2016: Table 3 – On EU special leave to work in the European Commission, Brussels as per D/Finance Circular 33 of 1991: Heather Humphreys (FG), Cavan-Monaghan We are talking about a matter of weeks. I want a policy that, when it is launched, can be used to hold other Departments to account. I do not want a pile of flowery language. I have said this previously; I want time-bound actions in order that when Departments say they are going to do something, I will be able to hold them to account. In fairness, in both my Departments, I have shown a commitment to the islands. I was the first Minister for Social Protection for many years to increase the islands allowance in my first budget. There has been a long-running issue there with roads in County Donegal. I worked with the island community there and with Donegal County Council. The roads on some of the islands have been transformed. If the Deputy gets a chance to go to the lighthouse on Arranmore, the community will tell him the difference that has made. I have established a special dedicated funding stream under CLÁR for island communities. This year, I have ring-fenced funding under the local improvement scheme for the islands. We have developed remote working hubs on a number of the islands with funding from my Department. We will continue to improve life on the islands, but the policy is important. Heather Humphreys (FG), Cavan-Monaghan Yes, and I am trying to do my best in my Department. As part of the new policy, I want other Ministers to do the same. I told the Deputy what I have been trying to do. I want to use this policy to hold the other Departments to account. It has to be a whole-of-government policy and that includes housing, health and education. Those are some of the key Departments from which we need strong commitments in this strategy. This will be first islands policy in 26 years, as all Members will be aware. I want to get it right. As I said, my officials engaged with representatives of Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann. We told them we would bring this Government very shortly. They are happy to see that we are making progress on this. It might take a couple of weeks longer than I had initially thought. I thought I would have it by the end of this month, but it is better to make sure we get it right. We must have an action plan that clearly sets out what we want to achieve, when we are going to achieve it and who is going to do it. Simon Coveney (FG), Cork South-Central The 2023 St Patrick's Day programme saw the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Government Ministers take part in an extensive international programme to promote Ireland and Irish interests around the world.  These visits provided an opportunity for Ministers to promote Irish trade and meet business leaders, to engage with political counterparts and to meet the Irish diaspora in different locations. As part of this St Patrick’s Day programme, I visited Australia and carried out a wide-ranging programme of community, business and political engagements in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth. This included a brief meeting with the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, at the Australian Parliament. The discussion was very warm and touched on current topics. In conjunction with the official St Patrick’s Day programme, I carried out a series of trade and investment engagements in both Melbourne and Sydney. These included a series of meetings with both Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland client companies.  I also attended and spoke at business events including the Enterprise Ireland Melbourne St. Patrick’s Week Business Lunch, the Sydney St. Patrick’s Week Business Lunch, the Sydney Business Advisory Panel Breakfast, and the Queensland Irish Association. There were 47 Enterprise Ireland client companies involved in this trade mission programme and these business meetings and engagements provided a platform for me to highlight growth opportunities for Enterprise Ireland and IDA client companies in Digital Technologies, FinTech, Construction, Engineering, Healthcare, Energy, Consumer Goods and other key sectors. Heather Humphreys (FG), Cavan-Monaghan I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2023-04-25/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:48+00:00 Sitting date: 2023-04-25