Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 January 2023
324. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will urgently meet with representatives of the Irish fishing industry to discuss their serious concerns about the Brexit Voluntary Permanent Cessation Scheme, more commonly known as the Decommissioning Scheme, and make changes to the scheme to address their concerns. [3851/23]
View answerThe Brexit Voluntary Permanent Cessation Scheme was developed based on a recommendation by the Seafood Task Force Report, which was made up of representatives of the fishing industry, wider seafood sector and other stakeholders. The final scheme followed the Task Force specification in terms of rates and conditions, the latter of which was based on EU guidelines on using BAR funding for Decommissioning and from relevant regulations.
Following an EU State Aid decision on the scheme as specified, I announced its launch in July 2022 and the approved scheme, with all its terms and conditions, was published by BIM shortly after. Appreciating the significance of the decision any individual fisher would make should they chose to participate in the scheme, the deadline for applications was extended to 18 November 2022. This was to allow time for fishers to evaluate their own circumstances and the terms of the scheme should they voluntarily choose to apply and accept.
A significant amount of time has now elapsed, during which all potential applicants and stakeholders have had full visibility of the terms and conditions of the scheme. Given the terms of Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) funding, as established by the BAR Regulation, all applicants who wish to participate in the scheme, must be fully decommissioned and paid during 2023. Accordingly, the Voluntary Permanent Cessation Scheme as published, the transparent details as published to all stakeholders by BIM and the scheme as considered and applied for by applicants is the finalised scheme.
As the Implementing body, BIM received applications, assessed them and issued detailed offers to the value of €75 million to 57 individual persons/entities. The individual offers are formal contractual offers from the State, through BIM, to each individual and it is solely for each individual to consider their specific offer. Currently, those vessel owners have four weeks from the date of offer to assess the offer with their professional advisors and decide whether or not to accept it. It is the nature of the scheme that all offers are different and are based on the specifics of each vessel and their fishing activity. I must emphasise that the scheme is wholly voluntary and those receiving the offers are totally free to accept or reject them.
I have met with fishing representatives frequently since their participation in the Task Force, to provide them with updates on implementing the Task Force recommendations as well as discussing other significant issues within the fishing industry. Most recently, I met with them on 10 January and informed them that I had secured an increase in the budget of the scheme, from its original €60m, in order to ensure that all those who applied for the scheme could participate if they chose to do so.
BIM must treat all applicants, and indeed those who chose not to apply under the scheme as advertised, in a fair and transparent way. BIM, which has the formal contractual relationship with each of the 57 individuals, deals with information queries as required. I would encourage any applicant who has queries on their own application to engage directly with BIM.
