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

My understanding is that it is possible to apply retrospectively or to apply for hardship supports retrospectively.

We need to do that in the context of a discussion with people in the industry about how best to spend a limited amount of money under a fisheries fund, as it will be called. When I know the budget we have - we are trying hard to increase the fisheries fund for Ireland despite the fact that the overall fisheries fund available to the Commission has reduced - I am hopeful we will see an increase in the amount of money we have to spend. We got a particularly poor deal the last time, giving us approximately €10 million per year to spend on the EU fisheries fund. I am hopeful we could get more than that this time. It would be justifiable. Although it is my understanding that this may be possible, we will have to decide the issue in consultation with stakeholders in the industry once we know how much money we have to spend.

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