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Fishing Industry

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 January 2021

Wednesday, 13 January 2021

Questions (1123)

Michael Collins

Question:

1123. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the details of the losses in the specific species the fishing fleet will have to give up (details supplied); the details of the decommissioning proposal given to him and the Cabinet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1079/21]

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Written answers

The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement will, unfortunately, have an impact on our fishing industry.  However,  this impact would have been far greater had the Barnier Task Force agreed to UK demands or had we been in a no-deal scenario which would have seen all EU vessels barred from UK waters and subsequent displacement into Ireland's fishing zone. This week, I have  published a Preliminary Analysis of Transfers of Quota Shares on the gov.ie website which details quota transfers for Ireland across the different stocks. The economic effect will be felt across the pelagic and the whitefish fleet. The Deputy will see from this document that reductions in the Annexes to the Agreement are graduated over the 5.5 year period of reciprocal access, but the largest part of the reduction, 60%, is between 2020 and 2021.

In the context of funding that may be made available to Ireland through the Brexit Adjustment Reserve to assist our seafood sector with the consequences of a reduction in Ireland's quotas, my Department is exploring a variety of measures, including a possible temporary cessation scheme from the second quarter of 2021 to provide short term assistance to fishing vessels most impacted by the quota agreements with the UK and a possible decommissioning scheme to follow at a later date to address the longer term consequences on the balance between fleet capacity and fishing opportunities.

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