Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Barry for raising this matter. In its report "Navigating Change" the seafood task force included in its recommendations the introduction of a voluntary permanent cessation scheme. A condition specified by the task force was that the premium paid to vessel owners under this scheme would include crew costs. These crew payments were based on a provision in the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund Regulation, Regulation 2021/1139, which outlined that fishers who have worked at sea on board a vessel concerned by permanent cessation for at least 90 days per year during the past two calendar years preceding the year of submission of the application for support, may be granted support. In the final scheme developed from the task force recommendation, for crew members to be eligible for compensation they must have worked at least 90 days at sea per year for both 2020 and 2021 on the vessel to be decommissioned. In calculating the crew payment due, the vessel owner must fully consider the verified prior service of the individual on board other Irish registered fishing vessels. The required evidence of prior service includes, a sworn declaration of prior service certified by a solicitor, a commissioner for oaths or public notary; an employment detail summary, previously known as a P60, for each year for which prior service is being verified and a contract of employment for the period for which prior service is being verified. In cases where the crew member is no longer working on the vessel but is eligible for payment, agreement is to be reached between the parties on the level of compensation. In the event that agreement has not been reached a mediation service is provided to find a resolution between the two parties. The vessel owners receive payments under the scheme in two instalments. For each crew member the vessel owner must upload a copy of their safety card and a signed agreement agreeing the amount of compensation to be paid, together with the required evidence of prior service, if applicable. The safety cards, the signed compensation agreement and evidence of prior service do not have to be uploaded at the time of application but must be uploaded before the first payment can be made. Proof of payment to crew members must be submitted to the scheme's implementing body, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, within 4 weeks of the initial scheme payment to the vessel owner. The vessel owner cannot receive the second payment until all terms and conditions of the scheme have been met.

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