THE population of the 21 inhabited islands around the north western, western and southern coasts has declined steadily since the 1960s, its age profile has risen, and its economically active members have tended to seek work on the mainland.
In addition, physical isolation has hampered the provision of education, health and other services, increasing inhabitants' disadvantage when compared to the mainland community.
These are some of the problems identified in the report by the Government's Interdepartmental Co ordinating Committee on Island Development, launched yesterday.
The report stresses the islands' unique cultural contribution and argues that purely economic criteria should not form the base of a strategy for their development.
Among its main recommendations are an additional £1 million outlay on island access and the investment of £4.6 million in Tory Island for harbour development; a "financial envelope" into which all current Government spending on access will be placed; the establishment of a minimum standard for island access services and an increase in the means test threshold for the remote area boarding grant to facilitate island children going to secondary school.
It also proposes several structural reforms, including asking all State development agencies and county strategy groups to recognise the needs of island communities when formulating policy.
Launching the report, the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, said island communities had felt neglected for too long but the report outlined a strategy for dealing with this. Leader II, also launched yesterday, provided the means to implement it.
A contract for the Leader programme of development for the islands was signed by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, and Mr Seamus O Drisceil, chairman of the representative organisation for the islands, Comhdhail Oileain na hEireann.
Mr O Drisceil welcomed the interdepartmental report, though he said it was vague and aspirational in places, but he was disappointed the means test for the "lodgers' grant" for school children had been altered rather than abandoned.
The Fianna Fail spokesman on island development, Mr Eamon O Cuiv, while welcoming the report, was also disappointed about the means test. "There are probably only 30 or 40 people outside the means test but these are people like teachers, doctors and factory managers who are vital to the life of the islands," he said.
He was also disappointed that there was no commitment to a helicopter service for those in need of hospital care. Social welfare payments, he said, should not be means tested, which meant that every pound earned through farming, fishing or tourism was deducted from social welfare benefit.
The situation where Gaeltacht and non Gaeltacht islands were treated differently should have been ended, said Mr O Cuiv. He was also concerned that the only island under the jurisdiction of another state, Rathlin, was excluded from the report.
The IFA also welcomed the report.