The Deputy may give the Minister of State his extra time.
On prevailing side: this member voted with the winning side in 22 of 449 decisive votes (2 abstentions excluded). Read it as a government-or-opposition indicator rather than a measure of influence — the figure is near 100% for members supporting the government of the day and near 0% for those opposing it.
This is the point of the site: contributions keep the party held on the day, not the one held now.
| Party | Recorded as | Contributions | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| CC | Ceann Comhairle / Chair | 7,413 | 2020-03-19 – 2025-07-09 |
| IND | Independent | 2,272 | 2020-02-20 – 2025-10-08 |
Membership spells on record: IND 2016-03-10–2016-05-30 · I4C 2016-05-31–2020-01-14 · IND 2020-02-08–2024-11-08 · IND 2024-11-29–2025-10-25
The Deputy may give the Minister of State his extra time.
There are two minutes left, one minute for the Deputy and one minute for the Minister of State.
There are two minutes left.
I think the Minister of State is forgetting the procedure. We are all getting tired.
I am delighted.
I thank the Minister-----
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Carthy.
The Minister to respond.
Minister, you are over time.
The Minister can ignore the Chair, but it is not good practice. I ask both the Deputy and the Minister please to comply. The Deputy has one minute.
Deputy, your time is up.
I ask the Deputy and Minister to put their questions and answers through the Chair. I call on the Minister to conclude. He has one minute.
Minister, your time is up. Déanfaidh mé mo dhícheall a chur in iúl gur ceisteanna agus freagraí atá i gceist anseo. Cuirtear ceist agus faightear freagra, tríd an gCathaoir, más é bhur dtoil é. Questions and answers should be through the Chair.
There is no point of order. Deputy Carthy should resume his seat.
The next question is in the name of a Deputy who is not present. We will move on to the next question, in the name of Deputy Daly.
I thank the Deputy and call Deputy McNamara who wanted to come in on this question.
The Minister will get a chance to come back in. We are over time.
I am taking the Minister on a tour of the islands again. There are 30 island communities, eight of which, in Gaeltacht areas, represent 70% of the island population. My questions are specific. Where is the promised policy? When will it be published? What happened at the most recent interdepartmental meeting, bearing in mind that a motion in respect of this matter was put almost two years ago? I will come back to the finer details.
I am delighted that the Minister and Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann had an opportunity to give presentations. I welcome the fact that some progress has been made and that the Minister hopes for the draft policy to be published by the end of the year. It is important to put this in context. Some 24 years ago, there was an interdepartmental report which acknowledged what was needed and that those on the islands were leading the way but that we needed to back them. Notwithstanding the Herculean efforts of the islands t…
I thank the Minister. I accept her bona fides. I hope she will visit Galway, where there are a number of islands including the Aran Islands and Inishbofin. Huge progress has been made on ecotourism and dark skies on Inishbofin but the island is struggling for something as basic as a primary care centre. That is just one example. The Minister has made progress on the business case for Inis Oírr, which I welcome, but there are many other problems on the ground. It is not bona fides that are missing, but a policy and …