Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question. As he quite rightly said, I am responding on behalf of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, who is unable to attend. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has responsibility for administering the European Union's Brexit Adjustment Reserve, BAR, in Ireland. My colleague, the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, is best placed to provide an overview of how Ireland's approach to the BAR is evolving more generally. I am, however, on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, happy to provide an update on the latest developments in BAR-related measures to support the agrifood and fisheries sectors.

A core objective of the BAR is to provide financial support to the member states and economic sectors most affected by Brexit. Both the fisheries and agrifood sectors were identified from an early stage as two of the economic sectors in Ireland most likely to face very difficult consequences. It is also worth recalling that the eligibility criteria set by the European Union to qualify expenditure under the reserves are stringent.

A key criterion is that any proposed expenditure must demonstrate a direct link to negative impacts arising from Brexit.

As regards the fisheries sector, the outcome of the EU-UK Brexit negotiations resulted in a reduction in access to fish stocks for the sector. This clearly has negative consequences for the sector that are directly associated with Brexit. In response to this outcome, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, established the seafood sector task force in March 2021 to examine in detail the impacts on the fishing sector and coastal communities and to recommend mitigation measures. Several schemes recommended by the task force have been put in place to support the sector and these schemes are likely to be supported by the Brexit adjustment reserve. The schemes include: the voluntary tie-up schemes for 2021 and 2022, worth more than €30 million; a €3.7 million inshore fisheries business model adjustment scheme; a €1 million inshore marketing scheme; a €35 million local authority marine infrastructure scheme; a €25 million blue economy enterprise development scheme; and a €45 million seafood processing capital support scheme.

In respect of the agrifood sector, to date in 2022 support measures worth more than €4 million have been implemented in the horticulture sector, including supports for the seed potato sector and a UK promotional campaign for Irish mushrooms. A further €7 million has been allocated to fund an Enterprise Ireland capital investment scheme for meat and dairy processing. This investment is being used to fund development of new products and markets.

For the agrifood sector, it is clear that the full impacts of Brexit are still developing. For example, the UK has not yet imposed full import control requirements on agrifood products arriving from the EU which, when applied, will add costs to Irish supply chains to the UK. In addition, the ongoing uncertainty associated with the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol will have negative impacts on Irish exporters to the UK in terms of their planning and investment decisions. Finally, the UK agrifood market will continue to evolve in the coming years, including as result of trade liberalisation via new UK free trade agreements with third countries, and this can only increase competition in the UK market for Irish exporters.

All these consequences of Brexit are ongoing for the Irish agrifood and fisheries sectors and will impact on their future competitiveness on the UK market. I take on board what the Deputy said in respect of six larger fishery organisations being excluded. I will certainly bring that back to the Minister.

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