Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

It is a very common error. People assume in these cases that a quota was provided rather than financial recompense. What was provided was tonnage and kilowatt hours, which is considerably different in many respects. A condition was imposed on the scheme which I understand was included at the insistence of the Minister, namely, that it could not be tradeable or otherwise disposed of to the benefit of the people who got it. There were also conditions in respect of the ownership and skippering of the vessel which ensured that only the family who had the loss could benefit from it.

In the circumstances, only six vessels of the 68 that applied were successful. In the setting up of the scheme it would have been impossible for anybody to predict what kilowatts and tonnage might have been required to be made available to vessels that were successful. If 20 vessels had been successful, or indeed one other large vessel, there would have been implications for the percentage that was awarded. At this stage it is very easy to be wise and say that particular people benefited for particular reasons. As far as I am concerned, the Department has administered the scheme fairly and in accordance with the conditions of the scheme. If those conditions are to be changed at this stage, I cannot tell the Deputy what the implications are because it is impossible to know.

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