Ms Teresa Morrissey:

It is still the case that we cannot access grant aid for finfish and will not be able to access grant aid in the next funding programme as it stands. That is a decision of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, rather than a directive from Europe. If an operator is covered under section 19(4)(a), as it is called, that is, if a business's licence is awaiting renewal, which all finfish licences and some shellfish licences currently are, it is not eligible for grant aid for anything. That has been the case for a good two thirds or three quarters of the seven-year life of the last funding programme under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, EMFF. None of the aquaculture sector could access-----