Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 416: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the amount of funding provided by the EU and Ireland to fund decommissioning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8819/09]

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 417: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the amount of funding that was promised in accordance with the Cawley report for decommissioning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8820/09]

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 418: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the amount of money that has been provided for decommissioning of vessels less than 18 m in accordance with recommendation 4.2 of the Cawley report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8821/09]

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 419: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the amount of money that has been awarded to applicants of boats of 18 m or greater in the decommissioning of the fishing fleet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8822/09]

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 420: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the amount of money that has been provided for the decommissioning of boats of 18 m and over in accordance with recommendation 4.1 of the Cawley report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8823/09]

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 421: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the amount of money that was provided for decommissioning of the white fish fleet under the Cawley report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8824/09]

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 423: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will begin the scrappage scheme for the white fishing fleet for boats less than 18 m in accordance with the Cawley report (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8826/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 416 to 421, inclusive, and 423 together.

Steering a New Course, the Strategy for a Restructured, Sustainable and Profitable Irish Seafood Industry 2007-13 (the Cawley Report) recommended a restructured fishing fleet, consistent with the sustainable exploitation of available resources and economic requirements of vessel owners and the shore-based industries dependent on it. The Cawley report recommended the voluntary removal of 35% of the capacity of the whitefish fleet to achieve this goal, building on the 10% which has already been removed through the 2005/06 decommissioning Scheme.

The Cawley report prioritised in the first instance a decommissioning scheme targeting the larger vessels (18 metres and over) in the whitefish fleet to deliver a basis for both stock recovery and long term viability. This scheme was launched in February 2008. Forty–six vessel owners have accepted decommissioning grants with a total of 6909 GT and 19,000 Kw being removed from the register. €21 million was spent on decommissioning in 2008 with a commitment of a further €15.6 million to be spent this year. 75% of this amount will be recouped from the EU. This level of decommissioning has delivered some 63% of that recommended in the Cawley report for this part of the fleet. It is important to note that the full €42m budget which had been made available for this voluntary decommissioning scheme was not taken up by fishermen.

The report also noted that a specific economic or social impact analysis should be carried out in relation to vessels under 18 metres to determine the eligibility, urgency scope and cost of carrying out a targeted decommissioning scheme for such vessels. The Seafood Strategy Implementation Group under the chair of Dr Noel Cawley is currently considering this matter. It is important that any decommissioning of vessels under 18 metres is targeted to take account of the overall strategy to achieve a balance between available resources and the fishing fleet as well as the impact of the current scheme.

Any new scheme of decommissioning going forward will be considered based on available recourses and their prioritisation.