Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is unable to attend today and has asked me to reply to the Deputy.

It is important that the fishing industry takes every precaution to avoid risk of injury or worse during storms and has full regard to local weather warnings before venturing to sea. I think we are all agreed on that. Inshore fishermen who may be experiencing financial difficulties while ashore due to the adverse weather should contact the Department of Social Protection which offers income support payments, subject to certain eligibility criteria.

In May 2014, the Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, announced the establishment of the National Inshore Fisheries Forum based on a structure of regional inshore fisheries forums to give inshore fishing communities a platform to become involved in policy formulation and decision making. The NIFF will be meeting for the sixth time on Thursday, 21 January 2016, and has invited the Department of Social Protection to discuss social protection policies relevant to the inshore fishing sector. The new seafood development operational programme under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund was adopted by the European Commission in December 2015. That programme provides a comprehensive range of supports for the seafood sector, including a dedicated scheme of supports for the inshore sector to address the various economic and sustainability challenges facing the sector.

Last Thursday, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, was pleased to have the support of the European Commission to launch the initial tranche of eight schemes at the Government press centre. These eight schemes include the sustainable fisheries scheme, which makes available up to €16 million to encourage practices that lead to reduced catches of juvenile or over-quota species with the ultimate aim of improving fisheries sustainability. The inshore fisheries conservation scheme will make €6 million available overall. The initial phase of this scheme is a specific initiative providing up to 75% of market price for lobsters which are v-notched and returned alive to the sea to contribute to maintaining the lobster stock. The fisheries local development scheme will provide up to €12 million to local groups who establish fisheries local action groups and prepare local development strategies to identify economic development needs and opportunities in their fishing communities and in turn provide financial supports to local sectors to develop business opportunities and infrastructure to deliver on that potential. The sustainable aquaculture scheme will provide up to €20.6 million to support investment to promote the sustainable growth of output, value and employment in the aquaculture sector. The knowledge gateway scheme will provide up to €8.2 million to support applied research, training and the provision of environmental and business planning advice to the aquaculture sector. The seafood capital investment scheme makes up to €13 million available for capital investment by seafood processing enterprises to focus on reducing energy costs, improving safety, health, hygiene and traceability and also adding value through processing, presentation and packaging.

The seafood innovation and business planning scheme makes available €7 million to support investment to enable entrepreneurs and seafood companies to innovate and grow business and to build capability in the sector through improved leadership, as well as management and business planning practices. Supports will be focused on new product and technology development, research and development and business planning. Finally, the seafood scaling and new market development scheme makes available €4 million to support investment to promote scale and collaboration in the sector and to fund projects that address key sector issues such as industry collaboration forums, joint ventures between companies, producers and processors and projects that address common sector issues. The inshore fishing sector is eligible for and will benefit from the implementation of many of these schemes.

The Government is fully committed to the seafood sector and the coastal communities that are dependent on fisheries and aquaculture. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has provided almost €36 million in 2016 to his Department and a range of implementing agencies to begin implementing the new seafood development programme. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has also provided Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, with €22 million in 2016 to implement these eight schemes, as well as other new schemes that will be announced over the coming weeks and months.

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