Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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2. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine noting the deadline for decommissioning of the vessels under the Bord Iascaigh Mhara decommissioning scheme expires in April 2023, and the entitlement of crew to avail of a share of compensation if they have worked 90 days on the vessel that is due to be decommissioned in the course of 2020 and 2021, if that entitlement is lost if the fisher has ceased working on the vessel between 2021 and the present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12085/23]

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for her indulgence this morning, and the indulgence of her staff. At the time when I was meant to be walking here to ask this question I ended up on the phone with Áine Lawlor. That does not happen very often.

My question is, noting that the deadline for decommissioning of the vessels under the Bord Iascaigh Mhara decommissioning scheme begins in April 2023 and the entitlement of crew members to avail of a share of compensation if they have worked 90 days in the course of 2020 and 2021 on the vessel that is due to be decommissioned, is that entitlement lost if the fisher has ceased working on the vessel between 2021 and the present. Will the Minister of State make a statement on the matter?

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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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.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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Since last year the International Transport Workers Federation has been trying, unsuccessfully, to obtain answers from BIM on behalf of migrant crew members who are unsure of their entitlements under this provision. For example if crew members served those minimum 90 days in 2020 and 2021 and perhaps years before but left the boat post-2021, are they included or excluded from a share in the compensation? If the boat has changed ownership at any stage while the crew member has remained on the vessel, is the latter owner liable to compensate the crew member for all of his or her service? If the crew member meets or exceeds the minimum requirement but was undocumented for some of the time on the vessel, is his or her full service reckonable? Hundreds of undocumented crew members have been granted permission at various points from 2016 to the present day. Are they to lose out to the benefit of the owner who engaged them on an undocumented basis? These questions have been sent to the Minister of State and forwarded to BIM at the start of the year. The response from BIM has not yet arrived. I am hoping we will have some answers today.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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In regard to migrants, the scheme is, as I outlined, whether the crew member is a migrant or otherwise, fishers who worked at sea on board a vessel concerned by the permanent cessation, for at least 90 days per year in the last two calendar years. I will revert to the Deputy on the very specific nature of his questions. I do not have the response to that now. There are a number of terms and conditions. The background here is the seafood task force which comprised the stakeholders that came together to come up with this scheme and had to work within the constraints of the cessation scheme. This obviously is the outcome of the EU/UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and the voluntary permanent cessation scheme was one of 16 recommendations made by the task force in October 2021. In regard to the very specific points the Deputy raises, I will revert to him. However, being a migrant or otherwise the fact is this applies equally to all crew members who can prove they worked the required days in each of the two years.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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There are significant questions outstanding in regard to migrant fishers. The fact we still do not have clear answers either from the Department or from BIM is incredible, given how far advanced we are in this process.

To describe the provision for crew who worked on these vessels to be decommissioned as an afterthought on the part of BIM would not be inaccurate. The International Transport Workers' Federation, ITF, has been in touch with BIM officials since last autumn seeking answers to detailed questions rather than the broad specific points which are understood. Many of the potential beneficiaries among the crew may not have an entitlement to statutory redundancy if they were on a shared catch arrangement as opposed to being directly employed, because shared catch is viewed in official quarters as a form of self employment. Therefore, the crew compensation provision of the decommissioning scheme is potentially only all they have.

It is fair to say that if we were not talking about migrant workers in the main, BIM and the Department would have felt greater pressure from the outset to be clear about this. A generous and inclusive interpretation of the crew entitlement in this scheme and proactive measures to inform crew of their entitlement in their own languages is what it will now take belatedly to repair this negligent approach.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has made a couple of important points. I will go back to BIM, raise his points with it and ask for a response. There is no public record or register of fishermen in Ireland. Most are employed as share fishermen, that is, they are self-employed. In administering the scheme, BIM cannot check whether or how long any individual crewman has worked on a specific fishing vessel. However, having in their possession a valid safety card which is valid for five years is taken as evidence they are bona fide fishermen.

Another important point of relevance to the workers the Deputy has mentioned is that the task force recommended, regarding payments to the crew of commissioned vessels, that, if possible, the restriction set out in EMFAF Regulation No. 1139, that bars crew from re-entering the sector for a period of five years, be excluded. This was achieved and nothing is preventing any crew currently employed on a vessel intending to be decommissioned seeking employment on a different fishing vessel. On the specific points raised by the Deputy, I will bring them back to BIM and make sure he receives a response.