Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the funding allocation the Minister announced recently which will go a long way towarding repairing many of the piers and quays and harbour infrastructure damaged and also the €1.5 million in funding announced to alleviate the losses incurred by some inshore fishermen through the loss of shrimp and lobster pots and other gear.

I am pleased to report that in the past day or two much of the fishing fleet that had been tied up for so long finally put to sea but a problem remains. Many of the fishermen who will go to sea today will not be in a position to catch many fish for the next few days, perhaps even for a week, because of the swell. Effectively, the nets are hopping along the bottom of the sea. This will make for a very poor fishing trip but desperation has forced them out in relatively safe and good weather. I wish them well. I am a little pessimistic, but that is the reality as relayed to me. Even when they do make a catch, it will be some weeks before they receive any remuneration for it. The reality is that it takes a couple of weeks for the cheque to arrive in the post. It will take at least eight to ten weeks for some fishermen solely because of the bad weather.

Allied with this, the Minister is aware of the challenging quota issue in the whitefish sector. Unfortunately, some fishermen have not had the benefit of a remuneration package or a cheque in the post since October. That aside, I want to ascertain if it is possible to come up with a compensation scheme for fishermen, many of whom will go on a trip of up to five days. Some of those heading for the Porcupine Bank to fish for prawns could be taking a 15 day trip to earn a wage to put food on the table for their families. A compensation scheme was initiated about 20 years ago but it was so badly handled by the previous Administration that Members of this House could claim money. That was a poor reflection on that Administration and there are those in the fishing industry who criticise that scheme. They will say it was inefficient, poorly administered and not targeted, but the position has changed. The regulations in the administration of sea fisheries have been tightened and a scheme could be easily targeted at those worst affected by the recent bad weather.

I raise this issue also in the context of the much publicised comments made by a French MEP who publicly stated there might be access through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, EMFF, under Article 33(c)(1). Even though it has not yet been fully signed off on, it may well be a provision through which this country could make an application for funding. I would be grateful if the Minister confirmed that the Department and his officials were considering making such an application. If not, will he consider providing for some compensation scheme for hard-pressed fishermen and their families along the coast? We have heard calls from our colleagues in the North of Ireland who are also affected by weather issues. I look forward to hearing the Minister's comments.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this genuine issue. I know that he comes from the heartland of the whitefish fleet in Castletownbere and this is primarily a whitefish fleet issue. We have tried to do what we can within the rules and regulations. That is why, for example, in terms of a Government response, we have committed nearly €9 million to repair over 100 harbours and piers around the coastline and also nearly €1.5 million for fishermen who have lost gear, in the form of pots, and will have to bear the cost of replacing it. We will provide capital grant aid of about 40%. However, that is no of consolation to those involved in the whitefish sector who are looking to catch in the months of January and February a quota allocated in these months.

In terms of the EMFF, the truth is that it has not been signed off on yet and we do not know how much money Ireland will be allocated. It would be naive and foolish of me to look to spend money when we do not even know how much we will have to spend and I do not have access to it. Some have been calling on me to do this and deal with the issue retrospectively in six or eight months time when we hope people will be fishing and have had a good middle of the year.

I am anxious to do something practical to help people. We sat down in the Department today to examine what we could do. We have looked at the figures for the amount of fish caught in the whitefish sector in January and to date in February. The figures for the pelagic sector are quite impressive. There has been a very significant landing of mackerel and horse mackerel. Some 40,000 tonnes of mackerel and 18,000 tonnes of horse mackerel have been landed, primarily in Killybegs, in the north west, but on the whitefish side the story has been very difficult. Many boats have not been out since mid-December. About half of the whitefish quota allocated was caught in January and probably less than this has been caught so far in February.

We are looking to convene a special meeting of the quota management advisory committee which essentially comprises representatives of the industry and my Department to look at a significantly increased allocation for the remainder of February and next month in order that, as fishermen start to have a weather window, they could catch much more fish than they would otherwise be alllowed to catch and in that way try to compensate them for what happened in the first six weeks of the year which proved very difficult for them. Fishermen will, rightly, tell me that there is a real problem in that when there is very bad weather, for safety reasons they cannot go out and as a result have no income. If I had access to a fisheries fund and was allowed to provide some income support, that is something we would examine.

I spoke to my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, this morning. The Department of Social Protection has a facility to provide income support within the fishing industry under a number of schemes, in particular the fish assist scheme.

I recognise that is somewhat limited for many people because of the difficulties they have with access and the assessment procedure. Given that fishermen have gone out today and yesterday, I want them to be able to catch more fish. I hope the weather window lasts so they can earn a living. We will allow them to catch more fish than they would otherwise catch for the remainder of February and next month to make up for the fact that they have caught only half of the quota allocated to them in the whitefish sector thus far this year. I hope that will allow them to catch up in terms of income after a difficult start to the year.

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister's proposal for allocating extra quota over the next six weeks. Fishermen do not want to go cap-in-hand to anybody. It is a proud industry, albeit a difficult one, and they do not want to look for funding. However, most of them are now living on credit and the goodwill of businesses in their areas. We need to have a debate on the fish assist scheme because it is far from perfect with respect to fishing. I am increasingly convinced that issues of social protection, combined with evolving policy on days at sea for the demersal or whitefish fleet, will give rise to some form of family income supplement instead of fish assist. These individuals are self-employed and even though they are not fishing it does not mean they are not working. They may not be earning but they still have to respond to their skippers' requests to keep their vessels and gear maintained. They are working every day of the week they are ashore but they have no prospect of being paid in the next couple of weeks. I look forward to seeing how the extra allocation of quota will be divided. I hope it will take account of when prices are optimal and that the extra quota will not have a depressing effect on prices.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I share the Deputy's concerns. Many people do not understand how the fishing industry works. Those who work on a trawler receive a percentage of the catch rather than being paid a salary as such. Essentially, they are sole traders working on somebody else's boat, with the result that they do not have easy access to social welfare without a time-consuming assessment procedure. We need to consider issues of income protection for people who are committed to the fishing industry. The sector also employs a considerable number of non-Irish nationals who work as deckhands on fishing boats. Issues arise in this regard which we also need to consider. I started a conversation with the Minister for Social Protection this morning about income issues in the fishing industry, and we will continue that conversation. In the meantime, however, I want to give a strong signal that we are going to hold a special quota management meeting this Friday to significantly increase the amount of quota that boats in the whitefish sector will be able to catch for the next six weeks so that they can catch up, from an income and cashflow point of view, as long as the weather permits. If the weather window does not persist we will have to consider other ways of supporting the families concerned.