Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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482. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to consider introducing a subsidy scheme for inshore and islands fishermen, similar to those schemes available to farmers over many years. [28496/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The income supports for farmers that the Deputy refers to are provided within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and specifically on the basis of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 which sets out the rules for support under CAP Strategic Plans.

There is no similar or comparable provision in place under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in relation to primary producers in the seafood sector.

The primary source of funding for the seafood sector is the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) (2021 – 2027), one of a number of European cohesion funds. The EMFAF Regulation is aligned with the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), and the EMFAF Regulation does not make provision for the use of EMFAF funds to provide income supports to primary producers in the seafood sector.

There is no provision in the relevant EU Regulations governing state aid that would allow any exchequer funded subsidy scheme for the seafood sector.

I must note that my Department has significantly improved the financial supports available to the inshore fleet in the last year, implementing a number of schemes to specifically support inshore fishers and improving the aid rates available under these schemes. These include the Small-scale Coastal Fisheries Scheme which provides unprecedented enhanced grant rates of up to 80% to inshore fishers for both on-board and on-shore investment; grant rates of 100% are now in place for inshore fishers participating in the Lobster V-notching scheme and an innovative scheme to support the economic development of the inshore fishing fleet was put in place in 2024 - the Inshore Fleet Economic Assessment Scheme.

Inshore fishers can also access supports under other schemes such as the Fleet Safety Scheme and Seafood Training Scheme.

All of these schemes are administered by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) on behalf of the Department, and further details can be found on bim.ie/fisheries/.

Income supports are provided by the Department of Social Protection, with a specific category of Jobseekers Allowance for fishers, known as Fish Assist, further details are available here: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-social-protection/services/jobseekers-allowance/. Any inshore fisher who requires such financial assistance is advised to contact their local INTREO centre. Details of INTREO centres are available here: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-social-protection/services/find-your-local-intreo-centre/.

My Department and BIM will be engaging with the inshore sector to develop a successor to the Strategy for Inshore Fisheries Sector 2019-2023. This will provide an opportunity to fully consider the challenges facing the inshore fleet and identify potential measures to mitigate these challenges.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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483. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will ensure that the Quota Management Advisory Committee meets soon to agree on the allocation of mackerel and other species. [28497/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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In Ireland, fishing quotas are a public resource and are managed to provide for proper management, conservation and rational exploitation of the State’s fishing quotas. Quotas are managed as a public good that ensures that property rights are not granted to individual operators. This is seen as a critical policy in order to ensure that quotas are not concentrated into the hands of large fishing companies whose owners have the financial resources to buy up such rights. In Ireland, any movement towards privatisation and concentration of rights into the hands of large companies would seriously risk fishing vessels losing an economic link with Ireland’s coastal communities and undermining the socio-economic importance of the fishing industry in the coastal communities dependent on fishing.

The result of this long-standing policy is that the Irish fishing fleet involves a balanced spread of sizes and types of fishing vessels who have retained a strong economic link with our coastal communities and have delivered economic activity including vital employment in these communities, where there are very limited alternative economic activities.

Consultation on the management of quotas within National Policy is carried out each month at the Quota Management Advisory Committee (QMAC) meeting involving fishing industry representatives from the catching and processing sectors, my Department and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA). The QMAC examines in detail the operation of each fishery, available quota and uptake patterns for the different metiers of fishing vessels. The purpose of these meetings is to make recommendations to the Minister on monthly/bi-monthly/quarterly regimes for particular stocks and industry representatives bring the benefit of their knowledge and experience of fishing to these discussions.

As far as possible, I, as Minister, follow the QMAC's recommendations for regimes for particular stocks, subject to the proper management and rational exploitation of our fisheries. The fish quota management system is designed to ensure, having regard to fishing patterns and market conditions, the best possible spread both between fishing vessel operators and in terms of take-up of quota during the year.

The last QMAC meeting was held on 14th May 2025. The QMAC is due to meet again on 17th June 2025.