Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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782. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine how many boat owners have accepted a voluntary decommissioning offer from BIM; if the figure increased from 20 and if so, by how much; how many of those are owners of inshore boats; how many of those are owners of offshore boats; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15274/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Seafood Task Force, which included representation from the Producer Organisations and fishing sector, recommended the introduction of a voluntary permanent cessation scheme. The recommendation aimed to remove 8,000 gross tonnes of capacity from the fleet. The detailed recommendation was published by the Task Force in its report, Navigating Change, in October 2021.

The Brexit Voluntary Permanent Cessation Scheme eligibility criteria are set out in detail in the BIM Guidelines for Applicants and set out that the scheme was open to licence holders of fishing vessels that:

- are registered on the Irish sea-fishing boat register in the polyvalent or beam trawl segments and holding a valid sea-fishing boat licence issued by the Licensing Authority for Sea-Fishing boats at the time the time of application and which vessels are 10 years or more in age at the time of application, and

- have carried out at least 90 days of fishing activity at sea per year either during 2020 and 2021 or during the calendar years 2018 and 2019.

Vessels that were granted capacity under the 2001 Lost at Sea Scheme could also apply subject to special conditions.

Of those who applied for the scheme, 57 were eligible and were issued letters of offer. With the deadline for responding to letters of offer recently passed, I can confirm that 42 vessels have accepted and are due to proceed with decommissioning their vessels at a total cost of €63 million.

It is important to reflect on the objective of this scheme which was to remove up to 8,000 gross tonnes of capacity from the fleet in order to ensure there would be sustainable fishing opportunities for those remaining in the fleet following loss of quota due to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The total capacity associated with these 42 vessels is 6,700 gross tonnes, which represented 84% of the target and will free up an estimated €30 million of quota for species such as prawns, hake, monkfish and haddock.

While the offers made under the scheme have been accepted by the vessel owners, these individuals still have to comply with the terms and conditions of the offer and complete the decommissioning process. As the majority of these vessel owners are yet to complete this process and receive all payments, it would not be appropriate at this point to offer any detailed figures which may result in the identification of individuals.