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European Fisheries Fund

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 November 2012

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Questions (512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 519)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Question:

512. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 850 of 6 November, in relation to the interim evaluation report, if this report will be made available to the Irish industry; if it will be made available to the Irish industry through BIM’s website or some other channel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51111/12]

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Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Question:

513. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 850 of 6 November 2012, in relation to the Seafood Development Operational Programme 2007 – 2013 that was approved by the European Commission in 2009, is it the case the Ireland was the last EU country of the 27 EU members to submit their OP and Ireland's OP was the last OP in the EU to be approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51112/12]

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Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Question:

514. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 850 of 6 November 2012, if the Seafood Development Operational Programme 2007 - 2013 omitted any financial aid to the aquaculture sector; if there was a lack of funding from 2007 due to a lack of OP and this has now only be rectified with the submission of a new OP in March 2012 with just one year left in the funding period 2007 - 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51113/12]

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Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Question:

515. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 850 of 6 November 2012, if the process for submitting an OP to the European Commission for the 2014 – 2020 period has commenced; if the revised OP submitted to the commission in March 2012 has been approved by the Commission; if the revised OP will be made available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51114/12]

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Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Question:

516. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 850 of 6 November 2012, if the €42 million of EU funding that was made available through the EFF for the period 2007 – 2013 includes any amount carried over from the previous FIFG 2000 – 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51115/12]

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Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Question:

517. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the current state of play in relation to the EFF funding of €42 million; the amount of the €42 million funding that has been allocated to-date and a breakdown by year and industry sector fishing, processing and aquaculture which received the funding excluding any funding that was allocated to BIM or their sub organisation Aquaculture Initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51116/12]

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Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Question:

519. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount of funds remaining for the period 2007-2013 in the EEF fund; the way these funds will be allocated to private sector projects; if he will provide a breakdown by industry sector, fishing processing and aquaculture; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51118/12]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 512 to 517, inclusive, and 519 together.

As I advised the Deputy in my response to Parliamentary Question No. 850 of 6 November 2012, support was provided to aquaculture through the Irish Seafood National Programme 2007-2012, a complementary programme to the OP, funded solely by the Exchequer. That National Programme also funded a range of other schemes not included in the OP. The modest level of EFF co-funding available to Ireland for the period 2007-2013, €42 million over 7 years, meant that all investment needs for the sector could not be included in the OP. A decision was taken by the previous Government to allocate the available co-funding to certain programmes and to fund others from the Exchequer.

In their Interim Evaluation Report conducted in 2011, Fitzpatrick Associates noted the changed economic circumstances facing Ireland since the OP was originally drafted and the impacts this was likely to have on availability of Exchequer funding for measures included within the National Programme. Fitzpatrick Associates also noted that the measures included in the OP were not likely to be sufficient to draw down the full €42 million allocation from the EFF. They recommended the amendment of the OP to include most of the measures previously included in the National Programme, to ensure availability of supports to these important areas of the seafood sector and to ensure full draw down of EFF funds. The recommendations were accepted and a revised OP was submitted to the European Commission in March 2012. That revised OP must be adopted by Commission Decision and that is awaited. The revised OP will be published on my Department’s website immediately after its adoption. However, it is important to note that the measures included in the revised OP took effect immediately following its submission to the Commission.

The Interim Evaluation Report is available on my Department’s website at the following link:

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/fisheries/seafoodpolicydevelopment/seafooddevelopmentinireland2007-2013/

I have no information available to me on the timing of submission to, or approval by, the European Commission of other Member State’s Operational Programmes. The process of developing a new OP for the period 2014 to 2020 will commence shortly. The EU Regulation on the new European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) is still under negotiation as part of the CFP reforms. That Regulation will specify the areas of the seafood sector that may be supported in the next programming period and will specify the criteria that will determine how much of the EMFF fund will be available to Ireland. These two issues will be central in shaping the new OP. Consultation with stakeholders will form an important part of the process for preparing the new OP.

EU rules do not permit the carrying over of allocations from one programming period to the next, so strictly speaking no funds were carried over from the previous FIFG fund. However, depending on the level of drawdown of funds under the programme, the rules do allow for eligible expenditure after the programming period. This is referred to as N+2. This was the case with the transition period between the FIFG and the EFF, where expenditure under the FIFG continued for a certain period after 2006. This may also be the case with the transition period between the EFF and the EMFF.

The 2011 Annual Implementation Report for the Seafood Development Operational Programme 2007-2013 shows that approximately €28 million of the €42 million EFF allocation had been committed up to the end of 2011. As processing and aquaculture did not become part of the OP until 2012, this spend can be attributed to the catching sector. The majority of this spend was accounted for by the 2008 Decommissioning Scheme. Up to 2011, BIM was the implementing agency for all elements of the OP, so all funds spent were disbursed through BIM.

Approximately €14 million of EFF funds remains to be committed over the period from 2012 onwards. That period may extend up to 2015, if the N+2 rule is invoked. The table below indicates the breakdown of allocations by EFF priority axis. These priority axes are specified in the EFF Regulation (1198/2006). It is important to note that the Exchequer must provide matching funding, generally at the same level as the EFF contribution. Beneficiaries must also provide private funding. The level of private funding required varies from one scheme to another. Priority Axis 1 includes decommissioning and fleet safety, axis 2 includes marketing, processing and aquaculture, axis 3 includes marine environmental measures, axis 4 includes coastal area development and axis 5 covers technical assistance (implementation costs). The precise allocations by scheme will depend on a number of factors, including demand.

EFF

Priority

EFF

Committed

To 2011

EFF

Revised

Allocation

2007-2013

EFF

Allocation

Remaining

2012

€m

€m

€m

Priority axis 1

27.3

29.9

2.6

Priority axis 2

6.2

6.2

Priority axis 3

0.5

5.0

4.5

Priority axis 4

0.8

0.8

Priority axis 5

0.3

0.3

Total

27.8

42.2

14.4

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