Vol. 458 No. 7
35 Kathleen Lynch asked the Minister for the Marine the progress, if any, made by the voluntary decommissioning scheme; whether Ireland is on course to meet the mandatory EU fleet targets by the end of 1996; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17516/95]
43 Mr. Clohessy asked the Minister for the Marine the tonnage which has applied for decommissioning; the tonnage which has been accepted; and if it is sufficient to meet the target MAGP of 1 January 1996. [17535/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 35 and 43 together.
Sixty-eight applications, totalling over 3,000 tonnes of capacity, have been received to date under the decommissioning scheme which was introduced last June under the operational programme for fisheries. These are currently being evaluated by BIM and the Department for compliance with the criteria of the scheme. This process will be completed shortly. When applications are approved for the payment of premia and actual decommissioning of vessels takes place it will be possible to make a definitive assessment of the extent to which the scheme is contributing to achievement of the mandatory EU fleet targets for end 1996. However, I am confident that we are on course to achieve the fleet target objectives by next year's deadline.
