Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (Wicklow-Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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742. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will revisit the case of a fishing boat (details supplied) which has had cross-party agreement to resolve the long-drawn-out case for the family. [25994/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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This unfortunate situation arose following a private commercial transaction between two contracting parties to purchase a fishing vessel in the Netherlands in 2007. I am advised that the core issue here relates to the failure of the vessel purchased to pass a stability test in 2009, and the consequences arising from this failure.

While I sympathise with the difficult situation this individual has found himself in, my Department has no role in relation to the safety certification of vessels or matters arising in relation to their stability. That is a matter for the Marine Survey Office, under the remit of the Department of Transport. The responsibility for ensuring the authenticity of the details, specifications and stability of the vessel rests with the purchaser.

It is also not possible for my Department to revisit the matter of compensation for the purchaser of the vessel using the newer European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, as the nature of the compensation being sought is incompatible with the Regulation governing this fund, and was also incompatible with previous Regulations. Therefore, my Department is not empowered to take any action or use this fund in such a manner.

I fully understand that this individual and his family have faced a very challenging situation since purchasing the vessel and that this may be disappointing. I understand the vessel was subsequently sold. Again, I sympathise with the situation that this individual and his family have found themselves in arising from their purchase of this vessel.