Vol. 483 No. 4
65 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources if he will give an update on proposals by the EU to introduce pensions for retired fishermen; if he will give a target date for implementation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20759/97]
An EU regulation adopted in November, 1995, permits member states to use existing funding from the fisheries instrument for fisheries guidance (FIFG) allocations, for the part-financing of national early retirement schemes for fishermen.
However, no additional funding has been provided by the EU to support such schemes. This means that any scheme would have to be funded out of already fully committed funding under our other investment programmes for fleet modernisation and fish processing where the priorities are job maintenance and job creation. I will however be encouraging the Commission to explore the scope for providing alternative resources of funding, such as the European Social Fund, for such schemes.
