Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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679. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will clarify if EU financial subsidies for Irish fishermen are aligned to the periods that fish are spawning each year in waters around our coast as well as for periods of bad weather; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62148/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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EU funding for fishers over the past number of years was primarily sourced from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) 2014-2020 and delivered through my Department’s Seafood Development Programme. The €239 million Programme is co-funded by the EU and Government, and was developed to deliver on Union Priorities established in the EMFF regulation (Regulation (EU) No 508/2014). For fishers this is primarily delivered through Union Priority 1 and Union Priority 4. The schemes and supports delivered under the Programme were based on a needs analysis and on public and statutory consultation carried out for the initial development of the Programme and in the context of the aforementioned Union Priorities. The emphasis of the programme is on developmental supports and on the transition to sustainable fishing rather than the subsidising of fishing activities. Funding provided under the programme included, but was not limited to, investment on vessels to improve sustainability and safety, and assistance to allow younger fishers to acquire their first vessel. The Programme also funded a wide array of other projects in the Seafood Sector, including public interest projects, marine infrastructure and developmental support for seafood enterprises and coastal communities.

With EMFF drawing to a conclusion, my Department developed the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) Seafood Development Programme which will succeed the previous programme and provide ongoing support to fishers and the seafood sector up to 2027. This is a larger programme than its predecessor, with up to €258 million in funding available. Similar to the Programme developed under EMFF, it has been developed in the context of Union Priorities established by regulation (Regulation (EU) 2021/1139) which, among other aims, seeks to foster sustainable fisheries and restore and conserve aquatic biological resources.

Outside of these funds, I have also acted to leverage the Brexit Adjustment Reserve. In the wake of the Trade and Co-Operation Agreement, I quickly established the Seafood Task Force to make recommendations on how best to support the seafood sector and coastal communities to adjust to the post-Brexit environment. Its deliberations resulted in 16 recommendations outlining supports worth €423 million. The majority of these recommendations were for supports for fishers, with additional supports proposed for other parts of the seafood supply chain. Based on these recommendations, I have already announced €225 million worth of supports and investment programmes. This includes expanding schemes, such as the 2022 tie-up scheme, to assist fishers in surviving the increasingly challenging and volatile operating environment which has emerged in 2022. It also includes a decommissioning scheme which will allow for a restructuring of the fleet so it can better align with available fishing opportunities. Schemes directed at other parts of the seafood sector will also ensure stronger and greater added value markets for Irish caught seafood and ensure greater employment prospects within our coastal communities. It is important to stress that these are not subsidies for fishing activities, but a combination of supports to compensate for the negative impacts on the sector due to the TCA, provide short term supports to enable the fleet to adjust to the post-Brexit environment and provide developmental supports to achieve transformational change within our seafood sector, and developed within the objectives established by the Brexit Adjustment Reserve Regulation.