James Browne
Question:598. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to support the aquaculture sector using EU funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12135/20]
View answerTuesday, 23 June 2020
Questions (598)
Written answers
New EU provisions to amend the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund Regulation (508/2014) which allow additional forms of aid specifically relating to the market impacts of the Pandemic were introduced by the EU as part of its Coronavirus Response. These changes include new provisions allowing Member States to award EMFF aid to aquaculture enterprises for reduced production or sales arising from the impacts of the Pandemic.
However, no additional EU funds were made available to Member States to assist in implementing these new measures, so our capacity to use these measures is subject to the level of uncommitted funds remaining in Ireland’s EMFF Programme, and to the availability of uncommitted funds in BIM’s 2020 budget. It is important to note that BIM continues to pay out on grants previously awarded and seafood enterprises, including many aquaculture enterprises, continue to apply for new EMFF grants, including some that cite Covid-19 as the reason for their proposed projects. Equally, aquaculture enterprises are eligible for the broad range of measures available to other business as a result of COVID 19.
I am continuing to monitor developments in the sector and have asked BIM to provide a detailed analysis of the proposal submitted by its representatives.