Mr. Stiofán Ó Cúláin:

Deputy Pringle referred to de minimis schemes. I said it is currently critically important to maintain employment and the fishery policy would be flexible and innovative. In many cases EU state aid rules will preclude countries from grant aiding anything that will distort competition. In most other industries there is a de minimis get out clause and one is allowed to use up to €200,000. The maximum allowed in the fisheries sector is €30,000, which puts it at a major disadvantage. I mentioned it as an example of something that could provide more flexibility. A sum of €200,000 per project would be substantial aid.

Deputy Harrington referred to inshore processing. There are up to 20 processors along the west coast such as O'Cathain Iasc in Dingle, O'Mahoney and Ted Browne. There are quite a few in Rossaveal; at one stage up to 400 people worked in Rossaveal, but the figure has reduced to 40, mainly because of a lack of raw material for processing. The same applies elsewhere, such as Teelin in Donegal.