Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 June 2014
8. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will put in place measures to support the aquaculture sector in the event of a prolonged natural biotoxin outbreak to assist growers to survive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26127/14]
View answerMy question relates to biotoxin outbreaks affecting aquaculture operations around the coast. A number of areas are prone to biotoxin outbreaks which means shellfish cannot be harvested and must be kept in the water for a lengthy period until the biotoxin dissipates and test results show they are clear. This places a serious financial burden on the operations. My questions seeks to know if there will be any support from the State for them.
The EU regulation establishing the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, or EMFF, was published on 20 May 2014. Following months of intense lobbying and negotiation, I announced on 12 June 2014 that I had secured €148 million from the fund for the period 2014 to 2020 for the development of the Irish seafood industry and the coastal communities that depend upon it. This funding is more than double the amount that was available to Ireland during the last Common Fisheries Policy and will ensure a strong seafood industry in Ireland which can grow and expand to meet its potential up to 2020.
Ireland's EMFF allocation is to be provided through five discrete funding envelopes. There will be €71 million for investment in the seafood industry; €32 million for data collection-----
We already had that information in reply to Question No. 5.
I need to give it on the specific question. I will soon discuss with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Exchequer the question of matching funding.
EMFF funding will provide support for our fishing fleet to meet the challenges of the new discards ban. It will also support the development of the seafood processing sector, a sustainable aquaculture industry and the communities that depend on a vibrant seafood industry. My Department has been working since 2013 on developing a new operational programme setting out the arrangements for spending Ireland's allocation under the fund and has engaged with stakeholders on a number of occasions to date.
Article 55 of the EMFF regulation provides member states with the option of providing compensation from operational programmes to mollusc farmers for the temporary suspension of harvesting of farmed molluscs due to outbreaks of toxin-producing plankton or the presence of plankton containing biotoxins. A relevant outbreak must last for more than four consecutive months or, alternatively, the loss resulting from the suspension of the harvest must amount to more than 25% of the annual turnover of the business concerned. At this time, I am minded to make provision in the operational programme for such a biotoxin compensation fund.
This is subject to final decisions on overall priorities for the seafood sector and to evaluations by independent consultants of the appropriateness of such a measure.
The last ten seconds of the Minister of State's script actually dealt with the question and I welcome its inclusion in the operational programme. Perhaps a lot of time could be saved if the first minute and a half of the response did not comprise another rehash of the Department's press release. I acknowledge this is not the fault of the Minister of State, who is provided with a script. Nevertheless, the details and information are there and I welcome that. It is something that should happen because it is important for sustaining the shellfish sector in particular. I look forward to seeing a programme being put in place as part of the operational programme and to ascertaining how that will work.
