asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the reason for the withdrawal of a grant which was paid by his Department to the IAOS to assist in the running of fishing co-operatives.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Fishing Co-operatives
19.
The grant in question was one of a specified overall amount and was paid in full to the society over the period 1970-71 to 1972-73.
My question related to the reason for the withdrawal of the grant. Will the Minister state why it was withdrawn from the IAOS?
I can so inform the House. It was a once-for-all operation in which it was hoped that the IAOS would do certain things. They operated on that basis in 1970-71. It was agreed as part of the arrangement that the IAOS would, in addition to the normal grant from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, get a sliding scale of grants from BIM funds: £5,000 in 1970-71; £4,000 in 1971-72; £3,000 in 1972-73; £2,000 in 1973-74 and £1,000 in 1974-75. The total was £15,000. That was for a once-for-all job to organise fishery co-operatives. The job was attempted and it was done. The record of the IAOS in developing fishery co-operatives has been poor. While there are at present over 20 registered societies, only six are really operative and these appear to have little or no sense of dependency on the IAOS. The IAOS failed completely in their efforts to establish a producer organisation of fishermen and it was left to BIM to do so.
Is the Minister aware that the grant was sought in the first instance by the Federation of Fishing Co-operatives? Further, is he aware that at that time no conditions were laid down as to when the grant would be terminated? It was understood at the time that the grant would be paid annually to the IAOS to assist the Federation of Fishing Co-operatives.
I am not so aware. It was a once-for-all operation. I have informed the House of the disappointing performance of the IAOS.