Vol. 486 No. 1
252 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the current financial initiatives available to fishermen to upgrade their boats or to buy new or secondhand boats; the plans, if any, he has for future developments in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1671/98]
The Operational Programme for Fisheries, 1994-99, provides funding for the renewal and modernisation of the fishing fleet, with some £11 million of EU and Exchequer aid available to support total investment of some £30 million in the fleet. To date funding has been concentrated on the modernisation of vessels and has not been allocated towards the purchase of vessels. A total of 243 modernisation projects have been approved since the beginning of the programme involving over £7 million in grant aid. The investment in modernisation of the fishing fleet is contributing to the objectives of improving the quality, efficiency and safety of the fleet.
In line with the Government's An Action Programme for the Millennium, which commits to modernising the fishing fleet, I have been working to deliver on that commitment as quickly as possible. In addition to my plans for a capital grant aid scheme for a number of new whitefish boats which are currently being finalised, I am pursuing other options to facilitate and attract investment in the fleet, in line with the An Action Programme for the Millennium which gives a specific commitment to making the industry attractive to providers of capital by examining the provisions of fiscal incentives. My aim in progressing the various initiatives which I have outlined is to achieve a significant turnaround of the whitefish fleet.
