Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 November 2023
457. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 2 of 9 March 2023, if he can reconcile the response with the eventual diametrically opposite position taken by Bord Iascaigh Mhara in correspondence between the fishers and a representative of an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52301/23]
View answerIn its report of October 2021, the Seafood Task Force recommended the introduction of a voluntary permanent cessation scheme. The scheme aims to restore balance between the fishing fleet capacity and available quotas following quota reductions arising from the Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between the EU and the UK. The Task Force also recommended that it would be appropriate to compensate crew who are impacted by the scheme.
In the development of a scheme in response to this recommendation, compensation for crew was incorporated and is determined based on qualifying criteria specified in the scheme and according to length of service. Under the terms of the Voluntary Permanent Cessation Scheme crew compensation is negotiated between the crew member and the owner.
The Terms and Conditions of that scheme are available on the Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) website BIM - Brexit Voluntary Permanent Cessation Scheme bim.ie/fisheries/funding/brexitvoluntary-permanent-cessation-scheme/ and these terms include provisions for mediation.
In relation to evaluation of individual applications for decommissioning and the associated calculation of crew payments, this is an operational matter for BIM. As such, I will ask BIM to reply again to the Deputy on this matter, and in particular to consider whether mediation is appropriate in the context of the scheme terms and conditions.
