John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 343: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she has plans to introduce a scheme whereby her Department would buy out the tonnage owned by small fishermen and compensate them for same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10172/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Strategic plan for the Seafood Sector — Steering a New Course Strategy for a Restructured, Sustainable and Profitable Irish Seafood Industry (the Cawley Report) — recognised the need for a targeted decommissioning scheme for vessels less than 18 metres in length. The report recommended that it would first be necessary for a comprehensive analysis of these vessels to be conducted to determine the eligibility, urgency, scope and cost of such a scheme. As this has been identified and recommended by the Cawley report such an analysis will be carried out in due course. The need for decommissioning of vessels greater then 18 metres in the whitefish fleet has been prioritised in the Cawley report and I have recently launched the new scheme. Closing date for applications for the decommissioning scheme is the 30 April 2008.