Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising the issue and giving me an opportunity to come to the House to discuss the matter. At the outset, we must look at the variety of impacts the storms have had on the fishing industry and coastal communities. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, along with all his colleagues in government, are acutely aware of the ferocity of the recent storms combined with the exceptionally high tides which in combination have resulted in widespread damage right around the coast. A critical impact of the storms for fishermen has been the damage to vital pier and harbour infrastructure, which the inshore fishing industry depend on to carry out their work safely and efficiently.

Since the storms occurred, the Minister has been actively assessing the damage to the many small local authority piers and harbours right around the coast. He presented an assessment on the damage to fishery piers and harbours to Government at yesterday's meeting. He is aware that serious damage was caused to vital public infrastructure in various small local authority piers and harbours and to various navigational lights and beacons around the coast. He continues to assess the damage and to estimate the cost of repair and will feed the information into the Government's overall consideration of the issue.

The Government, in considering the totality of the impact of the storms yesterday, decided that local authorities need to carry out a full assessment of the damage and the costs involved and should revert to Government in the coming weeks. The comprehensive assessment will then enable the Government to decide on a fully informed response to the damage that was wreaked on our coastal communities as a result of the exceptionally bad storms. The Minister is aware of the critical importance of the local pier and harbour infrastructure to the 1,900 odd inshore fishing vessels that provide a backbone to our inshore fishing fleet. He is anxious that damage to critical pier and harbour infrastructure is addressed as comprehensively as possible and will work through the Department and with the local authorities to achieve the objective. The Minister is anxious that the repair of vital public infrastructure for the inshore fishing industry is a priority element in any overall Government response.

On the specific issue of Government support for inshore fishermen for losses of equipment or boats, it is useful to recall that there is a range of grant aid schemes already available to inshore fishermen administered by Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM. There have been some reports in the media about the loss by some inshore fishermen of their pots. It is not unusual for inshore fishermen to experience some pot losses through the winter. The Minister will talk to industry groups in the coming days and endeavour to assess the scale of losses that may have occurred.

In deciding on an appropriate response to the situation that emerges, the Minister will have to take account of the fact that EU law limits the options. The EU requires that any financial assistance provided by Government to the seafood sector must always be considered in terms of what is permissible under EU state aid rules. It is clear that under state aid rules, no aid may be given for the replacement of any lost or damaged fishing boats. Aid for the purchase of a fishing boat is only allowed for young fishermen under 40 years of age purchasing their first fishing boat, so no replacement boat is eligible for assistance.

The European fisheries fund regulation does allow for financial assistance for purchase of pots, but only where the replacement pots provide for more selectivity in regard to by-catch and under size fish. Any such assistance to purchase fishing gear may not increase the ability of a vessel to catch fish and would be difficult to implement without the risk of breaching state aid rules.

However, while constraints and considerations do exist, the Minister is actively endeavouring to get a full picture of the situation. When that is to hand, he will be in a better position to inform Government and determine what responses are practical. I spoke to him just before I came to this House and he stressed that he is intent on doing that and he wants to assure the Senator that he understands the difficulty and will do what is possible, within the law, to try to assist in this situation.