Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus táim thar a bheith dó as ucht an t-am a thógáil le teacht isteach leis an rún seo ar an Athló a phlé, rún ar an téama céanna maidir leis an damáiste a rinne na stoirmeacha, ach ó thaobh an ciste cúitimh d'iascairí beaga. The Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, is very welcome. I thank him for coming to the House. We are following on the theme of the recent storms but focusing on a different element of what took place.

I spent much of the past week or so walking the highways and byways of Connemara and Galway looking at the damage, which in many cases was devastating. One issue that came to light is the situation in which small fishermen find themselves. I spoke to people who are in their 80s who said they had never seen anything like the damage that was done and the type of storm we saw in recent weeks. Among the casualties were fishermen, some of whom had their boats and pots well away from the pier but they found that even that was not enough to protect them. Their boats have been damaged, gear has been lost and engines have been damaged. In a number of cases, slipways and piers have been badly damaged. The extent of the damage to the infrastructure of the piers will not be apparent for a number of weeks or months. Structural engineering audits of piers must be carried out to see whether damage has been done to their bases.

Much of the focus to date has been on the response of county councils, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the OPW among others. Fishermen find themselves in a much more difficult situation. Small fishermen in particular have been finding it hard to make ends meet. A joint Oireachtas committee compiled a report on fishing and a group visited the island of Inis Oírr in County Galway. One of the main findings of the report is that more support must be given to smaller inshore fishermen with boats under 10 m. Many of those fishermen have found their livelihood is in serious jeopardy because of the damage done to boats and gear. The gear of a small number of fishermen has been severely damaged and their livelihood is in jeopardy.

Could the Minister of State indicate whether an emergency fund is available to help reinstate the boats, gear and lost pots due to what has been described as a perfect storm? The swell, full moon and spring tide all came together in conjunction with the wind to do untold damage. In most cases the fishermen do not have the financial wherewithal to cover the cost of replacing their gear. Last year when there was a fodder crisis the Government was rightly able to introduce measures to alleviate the pressure on farmers. Small fishermen are in an equally bad position. If they do not get help they will not be able to resume fishing. That is the bottom line. We need to keep as many men as possible fishing in their boats on the sea. I hope the Minister of State will have positive news for me.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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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.

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for replying to my Adjournment matter on behalf of the Minister. I appreciate what he said, but I believe the issue needs to be sent home to Europe. This is an extraordinary circumstance and the normal rules should not apply in this case. This has been a catastrophe for many of the fishermen involved and we need to use whatever mechanisms we have to make the case with Europe. I imagine Europe would be favourable, because the numbers are minuscule.

I welcome the fact that the Minister will talk to industry groups in the coming days to endeavour to assess the scale of losses that may have occurred. One of the groups had a very positive input into the report launched yesterday - Iascairí Intíre Éireann, the inland fishermen's organisation which represents many of the smaller fishermen along the west and south coasts. Will the Minister of State ask the Minister to meet with that group to discuss these issues with them as they are anxious to talk to him and give him an accurate picture of the extent of the problem?

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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I will make the Senator's request to the Minister. I know he will and that he wanted me to assure the Senator that he will do everything possible. I presume that means he is willing to meet some groups. I cannot guarantee he will meet them, but I will relay the Senator's request when I meet him tomorrow morning. On the overall issue, the Senator stated the farmers were looked after, and that was necessary. The same applies here. The message the Minister wants to send out is that if it is possible, it will be done. If the Senator has any further information, we would appreciate it. We are as amenable to helping as we can be.