Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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347. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has examined treating Irish fishers and their industry in a similar fashion to the bed and breakfast industry, which allows non-rate paying businesses to seek access to emergency financial supports that have been put in place due to Covid-19 disruption; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10745/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that the Restart Grant Plus for B&Bs, implemented by Fáilte Ireland on behalf of the Minister for Enterprise Trade and employment, is implemented under the Temporary State Aid Framework introduced by the European Commission to facilitate Member States in supporting sectors most impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

My Department's €240 million European Maritime and Fisheries Fund Programme 2014-20 is the principal source of financial supports for our seafood sector. The Programme supports a wide variety of measures, including capital investment, innovation, professional advisory services, marketing and training, among others.

In 2020, the EU EMFF Regulation was amended to facilitate Member States in providing COVID supports to seafood enterprises. The EMFF supports that could be provided to the fishing sector were quite specific, either a temporary fleet tie-up scheme or a storage aid market support scheme. The Regulation did not permit a more general financial support scheme similar to Restart Plus. Representatives of the fishing sector expressed a strong preference for a tie-up scheme, rather than storage aid, and thus a COVID-19 Temporary Fleet Tie-up Scheme was implemented over the June to August period. The COVID supports under the EMFF Regulation ceased to be permitted after 31 December 2020.

It is anticipated that an EU Regulation establishing a new fund for the 2021-27 period, the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, will be enacted in April 2021. My Department has been working for some time on developing Ireland's Seafood Development Programme 2021-27 under the new EU Regulation, and I anticipate that it will be in place later this year.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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348. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if harbour fees paid by Irish fishers will be considered similar to rates paid by businesses for the purpose of applying for business supports available through his Department for disruption caused by Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10746/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department owns, manages and maintains the six State-owned Fishery Harbour Centres, located at Castletownbere, Dingle, Dunmore East, Howth, Killybegs and Ros An Mhíl. Charges for the use of the facilities at each of the six Fishery Harbour Centres are set out in secondary legislation by means of the Fishery Harbour Centres (Rates and Charges) Order 2012 (S.I. No. 214 of 2012) which came into effect on the 1st July 2012. Income from these charges pay for the day to day operational costs of the Fishery Harbour Centres.

The crisis emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges for Government from both public health and economic perspectives. The economic challenges are wide ranging and have impacted across all sectors. The Government response continues to be reviewed and will evolve in order to best meet current and future challenges as they arise.

The fishing industry, unlike many other industries, has continued to operate throughout the pandemic, and while I am very conscious of the impact the pandemic has had on the industry, overall the level of activity has remained robust.

Fishers operate from a wide range of Harbours around the State and the majority of these are owned and managed by the relevant local authority. It is a matter for each local authority to consider the position in relation to charges in those local authority harbours.

In respect of the Fishery Harbour Centres fees for the landing of fish are only incurred by the fishers when catches are landed. As the operational costs of the Fishery Harbour Centres are dependent on monies from harbour dues, there are no current plans to waive these charges in the six Fishery Harbour Centres. However, I will continue to review the situation taking account of the evolving situation and the range of horizontal Government supports available.

To date, a broad range of supports have been made available to the fisheries and aquaculture sectors through my Department’s European Maritime and Fisheries Fund Programme and more generally from Government. Fishing vessel owners and aquaculture producers whose trading income ceased due to the COIVID-19 pandemic, or crew members who lost their job or were temporarily laid off, were eligible to avail of income supports under the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, while vessel owners with salaried crew members who instead maintained those crew members on the payroll were eligible for the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme. Further details on current horizontal measures are available from the Department of Social Protection, Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment and from the Revenue Commissioners respectively.

Between June and August 2020, supports were available from BIM through the EMFF Temporary Fleet Tie-up Scheme to fishers who choose to tie-up their vessel for up to two months. The Scheme supported the fixed costs of these vessels based on official data held by BIM. Supports of €500 to €6,000 per month were available depending on vessel size. Separately, an EMFF COVID-19 Aquaculture Support Scheme provided supports to aquaculture producers for lost sales and production, with payments of €6,800 to €16,300 for oyster producers and €1,300 to €9,000 for rope mussel producers, depending on previous production levels.

These supports complemented the income supports separately provided by Government.