Seanad debates
Wednesday, 4 December 2002
Adjournment Matters. - Coastal Protection.
Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)
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On Sunday afternoon there were severe storms on the west coast with Seafield pier in Quilty hit particularly hard. Six boats were swamped by high waves coming over the pier wall. Some boats were put out of commission and serious damage was done. Will the Minister of State indicate how it might be possible to offer financial assistance in order that these craft can be put back in operation?
One of the boats in question was a very important sea-fishing vessel and the owner will need time to repair it. He will lose the opportunity to fish until Christmas, causing severe hardship for him and his family. Is it possible to get assistance to help him to have the boat repaired and pay compensation for loss of livelihood while the boat is out of commission? A number of other pleasure craft also sank in the severe storms.
In recent years the former Department of the Marine and Natural Resources provided funds for Clare County Council to build a protective wall on the eastern side of the pier. That wall, according to the fishermen, caused waves to hit very hard and come back over the pier, washing down to where boats are tied up. This never happened before the wall was built. Will the Minister of State send an engineer from the Department to examine the wall in question to see if remedial work will be necessary? Will he provide funding for this remedial work in order a similar situation can be avoided?
Assistance was provided after the flooding in Dublin. People in Quilty, County Clare, face similar hardship and it is only right that something should be done. There are not many people involved and the cost would not be enormous. We also must remedy the fault in the wall to ensure there is no repetition in six months time.
John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to respond. Recent heavy storms have had an impact on the livelihoods of fishermen. Weather conditions are an integral element in the lives and routines of fishermen as Members of the House appreciate. Fishing is a weather dependent activity and, invariably, fishing patterns are disturbed on occasion each year by periods of bad weather such as that which has occurred recently. This does not understate the significance of its impact on those concerned, but highlights its inevitability for fisherman.
It is also not a phenomenon unique to Ireland. It is an accepted reality of fishing throughout the world. Accordingly, the issue was raised with my predecessors on a number of occasions during the years in line with the sentiments expressed by the Senator. I share his concern about those fishermen whose fishing activities have been hampered in recent weeks. There is, however, no specific funding mechanism available to my Department to alleviate financial hardship in the manner advocated by him.
Under EU aid rules, approval for financial assistance to the fishing industry in whatever form must be obtained from the European Commission. Accordingly, any question of introducing a compensatory measure of the type indicated would be considered within this framework. In the context of previous discussions between my predecessors and the Commission on the issue over the last decade, it has made it clear that it is fundamentally opposed to aid packages for any income lost during periods of bad weather. It has also affirmed that its opposition to such schemes extends, not just to the European Union, but also national Exchequer funds. Against this background, there is no realistic prospect of my being able to make provision to alleviate the financial hardship of fishermen suffering loss through damage to their boats and the consequent risk to their livelihoods. Private insurance arrangements should be made to cover such eventualities.
It would be wrong to draw the conclusion that the Government is not mindful of the difficulties that can afflict fishermen. The Government is particularly concerned about those fishermen who operate out of smaller in-shore boats and are dependent on catches of whitefish for their income. They are the most vulnerable in the fishing community as they are most affected by weather conditions. It was for this reason that the previous Government introduced the fishing assist scheme in the late 1990s. This scheme has a simple purpose, to protect the livelihoods of fishermen during periods when they are unable to fish and have very low incomes. It can be of benefit to certain fishermen affected by the recent storms and I encourage them to contact the Department of Social and Family Affairs. The key are elements of the scheme are that only 70% of all income from self-employment will be assessed, rather than 100%, child rated income disregards of over €250 apply for each of the first two children, with extra disregards for the third and subsequent children and there is a relaxation of signing on arrangements. These are important concessions in the social welfare code that are targeted and measured and I hope the Senator agrees that they offer clear potential to assist certain fishermen in times of financial hardship.
The Senator has discussed this issue with me a number of times in the last week and expressed serious concern about the works carried out on the harbour wall. The Department will send a senior engineer to examine the situation to see how it can be dealt with. If there are problems with the building or engineering of the wall, we will see what we can do. The engineer will visit within the next week or ten days.