Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this genuine issue. I know that he comes from the heartland of the whitefish fleet in Castletownbere and this is primarily a whitefish fleet issue. We have tried to do what we can within the rules and regulations. That is why, for example, in terms of a Government response, we have committed nearly €9 million to repair over 100 harbours and piers around the coastline and also nearly €1.5 million for fishermen who have lost gear, in the form of pots, and will have to bear the cost of replacing it. We will provide capital grant aid of about 40%. However, that is no of consolation to those involved in the whitefish sector who are looking to catch in the months of January and February a quota allocated in these months.

In terms of the EMFF, the truth is that it has not been signed off on yet and we do not know how much money Ireland will be allocated. It would be naive and foolish of me to look to spend money when we do not even know how much we will have to spend and I do not have access to it. Some have been calling on me to do this and deal with the issue retrospectively in six or eight months time when we hope people will be fishing and have had a good middle of the year.

I am anxious to do something practical to help people. We sat down in the Department today to examine what we could do. We have looked at the figures for the amount of fish caught in the whitefish sector in January and to date in February. The figures for the pelagic sector are quite impressive. There has been a very significant landing of mackerel and horse mackerel. Some 40,000 tonnes of mackerel and 18,000 tonnes of horse mackerel have been landed, primarily in Killybegs, in the north west, but on the whitefish side the story has been very difficult. Many boats have not been out since mid-December. About half of the whitefish quota allocated was caught in January and probably less than this has been caught so far in February.

We are looking to convene a special meeting of the quota management advisory committee which essentially comprises representatives of the industry and my Department to look at a significantly increased allocation for the remainder of February and next month in order that, as fishermen start to have a weather window, they could catch much more fish than they would otherwise be alllowed to catch and in that way try to compensate them for what happened in the first six weeks of the year which proved very difficult for them. Fishermen will, rightly, tell me that there is a real problem in that when there is very bad weather, for safety reasons they cannot go out and as a result have no income. If I had access to a fisheries fund and was allowed to provide some income support, that is something we would examine.

I spoke to my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, this morning. The Department of Social Protection has a facility to provide income support within the fishing industry under a number of schemes, in particular the fish assist scheme.

I recognise that is somewhat limited for many people because of the difficulties they have with access and the assessment procedure. Given that fishermen have gone out today and yesterday, I want them to be able to catch more fish. I hope the weather window lasts so they can earn a living. We will allow them to catch more fish than they would otherwise catch for the remainder of February and next month to make up for the fact that they have caught only half of the quota allocated to them in the whitefish sector thus far this year. I hope that will allow them to catch up in terms of income after a difficult start to the year.

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