Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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517. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the funding his Department has provided and will provide in the future to support moving the Irish fishing fleet to low impact gears; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31314/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) Seafood Development Programme has been the main source of funding for the seafood sector since 2016. Under this programme there have been a wide range of projects and schemes to support the sustainable development of fishing activities. The Sustainable Fisheries Scheme in particular has provided funding for on board investment in vessels and for public projects. In terms of on board investment, approximately €12 million in grant funding was awarded to fishers between 2016 and 2022, which included support for environmentally friendly fishing gear. In 2023, I announced the reopening of this scheme under EMFF to ensure support would continue to be available for investments in the fleet. In terms of public projects, funding has been provided for development and testing of selective fishing gears and methods which assists in providing guidance for fishers on the most sustainable fishing practices.

In December 2022, I announced that the European Commission had adopted the new European, Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) Seafood Development Programme which will succeed the EMFF programme and ensure continued support is provided for the sustainable development of the fishing fleet and the seafood sector as a whole up to 2027. This larger €258 million programme includes actions to improve fishing gear selectivity to reduce unwanted catches and reduce the use of fishing gear most harmful to biodiversity through investment in the fleet. It will also support public research and development projects to ensure the industry has guidance on the most sustainable practices. The development of schemes under this new programme will be completed with the input and oversight from the programme's monitoring committee which includes representatives of the fishing sector, wider seafood sector, Departments and public bodies and those with environmental expertise.