Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 July 2019
2036. Deputy Hildegarde Naughton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the funding announced under the fisheries local area group development programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31530/19]
View answerMy Department's €240 million European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) Operational Programme is the vehicle for financial supports to the seafood sector for the period 2014 to 2020. The Programme delivers a wide range of supports for aquaculture, fisheries and seafood processing through a suite of 18 schemes. The Programme is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union.
The Fisheries Local Area Development Scheme is providing €12 million EMFF support to projects within coastal communities around Ireland. The Scheme aims to promote innovative approaches in coastal communities to create growth and jobs in those areas, in particular by adding value to fishery and aquaculture products and diversifying the local economy towards new economic activities, in particular those offered by blue growth and the broader maritime sectors.
There are seven Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAG) established around our coast and each has developed its own Local Development Strategy, tailored to the respective FLAG's territory. The Boards of the seven FLAGs determine which projects are to be selected for EMFF funding from their allocated budget.
In 2018, the 7 FLAGs paid out grants of €1,948,444.72 to 209 local projects, while since its commencement in 2017, the scheme has paid out total grants of €3,723,007.69 to 342 projects.
In May of this year, I announced a tranche of 2019 EMFF FLAG grant awards as outlined in the table below. These will be drawn down by the applicants over the course of 2019 and, in some instances, in 2020.
|
FLAG |
Number projects |
Total Investment |
Grant Awards |
|
Northeast |
36 |
€1,652,695 |
€973,221 |
|
Northwest |
42 |
€589,471 |
€336,024 |
|
South |
29 |
€551,236 |
€337,270 |
|
Southeast |
41 |
€1,178,540 |
€757,817 |
|
Southwest |
17 |
€238,597 |
€183,216 |
|
West |
62 |
€1,306,294 |
€808,764 |
|
North |
47 |
€852,891 |
€581,412 |
|
TOTAL |
274 |
€6,369,724 |
€3,977,724 |
