Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 June 2023
354. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline the actions in the Our Living Islands policy related to supporting the inshore fishing sector; the budget allocated to each of these actions; and the timescale for the completion of these actions. [31995/23]
View answerActions in "Our Living Islands National Islands Policy 2023-2033" related to the support of the Inshore Fishing Sector are closely aligned with actions in my Department's European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund Seafood Development Programme. The €258 million programme was adopted by the EU Commission in December 2022 and is in the early stages of implementation.
Actions included in the Islands policy include facilitating the formation of new Producer Organisations (POs) and support to assist POs in their preparation and implementation of their production and marketing plans. Support for the POs is currently being delivered through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund which is approaching closure. As the deputy is aware, this has included support for the establishment of the National Inshore Fishermen's Association. The Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation will also be able to avail of support under this fund in 2023. Parallel to this, a PO support scheme, and associated budget, is being developed under the new programme. The POs will have input into the development of this scheme through their participation in the programme's monitoring committee.
The policy also refers to supports for coastal communities to support a wide range of initiatives targeting job creation, social inclusion, tourism, community regeneration and market development around our coastline. This will be delivered through Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs), with over €15.5 million allocated for this community led local development. This is an increased budget over the €12 million which was provided under the EMFF programme. BIM issued a call for expressions of interest for FLAGs in May. While the process of establishing these is ongoing, support has been made available under the Brexit Blue Economy Enterprise Development Scheme which I announced last year.
Outside of these specific actions, the Seafood Development Programme will offer a wide range of supports for fishers, with particular emphasis on small scale coastal fishers, as well as investment in the wider seafood industry and support for public projects which improve sustainability and protect our marine environment.
