Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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768. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if older vessels will receive less favourable treatment under the decommissioning scheme for fishing vessels; if his attention has been drawn to the Dutch scheme which allows for more equitable treatment of vessels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4156/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is aware that I established the Seafood Task Force to examine the implications of the EU/UK Trade & Cooperation Agreement (TCA) for the Fishing Industry and Coastal Communities and to consider initiatives and make recommendations to address those implications. The Task Force had among its members representatives from across the seafood sector including Producer Organisations and other fisheries stakeholders. Their participation ensured that the industry shaped the recommendations according to their needs and the difficulties that they faced.

The Task Force report made a specific recommendation in respect of a voluntary permanent cessation scheme. The recommendation called for a maximum premium of up to €12,000 per gross tonne which was to include crew payments and scrapping costs. The report also stated that an age depreciation factor be applied to these payments, noting that similar had been used in previous decommissioning schemes. This was a necessary condition to include as EU guidelines on using Brexit Adjustment Reserve funding for permanent cessation must be based on the current market value of the vessel.

Under the scheme, letters of offer have been issued for 57 vessels with total payments of almost €75 million. This represents a budget increase from the original proposed scheme, which I secured following BIM analysis of the profile of applicants.

I am aware that the Netherlands launched a decommissioning scheme at a later date than the Irish scheme. While there are some differences in the calculation methodology, it is important to note that the profile of the Dutch fleet and of the segments which are targeted for decommissioning are different to that of the Irish fleet and a different methodology was employed. The two schemes are not directly comparable.