Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The escalation of fuel costs, as a result of global economic and political conditions, remains a matter of concern for all sectors of industry.

It is important to note that the fishing industry in Ireland already receives favourable treatment in the form of a full rebate on excise and VAT on marine fuel, if the enterprise concerned is registered for VAT.

Fuel subsidies, in terms of operating aid for fishing vessels, are not permitted under EU State Aid rules and any such measures introduced by EU Member States would be in breach of EU law and subject to Infringement proceedings in the European Court of Justice.

I believe that the most critical element in addressing the impact of high fuel prices is to make the fleet more profitable. The planned reduction in the size of the fishing fleet, through a decommissioning scheme which I intend to launch shortly, will increase the profitability of the vessels that continue to fish because they will be permitted to land higher quantities of quota stocks.

I also consider that considerable research activity is required in order to identify the most fuel efficient equipment and practices and I will be pushing strongly for this area to be prioritised under the EU's Seventh Framework Programme for Research (2007-2013). At present, Bord Iascaigh Mhara is making grant aid available to improve fuel efficiency on board fishing vessels. I will keep this scheme under review to ensure that it covers best practice in the context of available research in the area.