Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1302. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way he has used the EMFAF crisis mechanism, triggered by the European Commission in March 2022, to support the fisheries sector, including details of measures designed to support the inshore sector. [55422/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Following Brexit and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, I established the Seafood Task Force, which included representation from the fisheries sector and which made a series of 16 recommendations to assist the seafood sector in terms of both short-term survival and long-term transformation. Given that these recommendations were industry led, it has been my priority to implement these for the benefit of all seafood stakeholders. Since its publication I have launched supports and developmental strategies worth €225 million.

This included the €24 million 2022 temporary tie-up scheme which, at the request of the industry, was expanded to allow vessel owners to tie-up for an additional month over what had been given in the 2021 tie-up scheme. The 2022 scheme allows fishers to tie up to two calendar months, receiving up to €88,000 per month. This tie-up opportunity frees up additional quota for those vessels continuing to fish, improving vessel returns and supporting viability in the wider fleet and enables the opportunity to fish until the end of the year.

For the Inshore segment, the Business Model Adjustment Scheme was launched earlier in the year and provided payments of between €2,700 and €4,000 and a suite of online training courses for Inshore fishers.

In respect of the EMFAF, a programme has been developed for Ireland in a collaborative manner with input from a wide range of stakeholders in the seafood and marine sphere. This is aimed at developing the seafood sector in a sustainable manner while also protecting our valuable marine environment. The programme which has been approved by Government and which is awaiting European Commission adoption, is a long-term plan which will support a much wider range of stakeholders up until 2027.

The European Commission has provided a range of other funding options for fishery and aquaculture sectors to deal with the short-term current challenges facing the seafood sector. In this context I am continuing to monitor and assess the situation and keeping these options under active consideration while existing supports are still being administered.