Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive reply. I very much welcome the meeting that took place with the IFA Aquaculture group and key stakeholders. I also acknowledge the success the Minister has had in achieving a 100% increase in the new fisheries fund over the previous one under the revised Common Fisheries Policy .

From what I read of the reply provided by the Minister of State, I note the door has not closed on the possibility of providing some assistance to those operators who, in some cases, have found themselves at risk of going out of business. They simply cannot take the perfect storm, as I outlined, of the recent severe weather and the high toxicity levels now being encountered. I agree that a limited amount of harvesting has begun to take place in the past week. I also agree that it is entirely reasonable to assess how the product will fare on the market and the eventual level of loss to some operators.

I expect the larger operators will probably be in a better position to take the inevitable loss but some of the smaller ones will not. In this context I again call for a favourable response from the Department, for it to engage with Bord Iascaigh Mhara and at least consider a limited compensation package which identifies those hit hardest. This would be to allow them to get back on their feet. I note what the Minister of State said, that the purpose of the fisheries funds, past and present, is to support new and existing industries. It would be very poor judgment if, in looking at new industries and opportunities in the sea fisheries sector, we allowed existing smaller operators to go out of business. This situation exists through no fault of ours, the Department, the Minister of State or the operators, as they have been hit with this tsunami of natural events. I thank the Minister of State for at least not closing the door on the compensation issue.

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