Vol. 496 No. 7
98 Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the number of applications received for new vessels and modernisation grants for existing vessels; and his views on whether funding will be adequate to meet all the applications. [23996/98]
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that on Monday, 16 November 1998, I approved grant aid of over £12 million supporting investment of over £50 million for the introduction of 31 new vessels into the whitefish fleet. Over 50 applications were received by BIM for new vessels under the whitefish renewal programme. Following evaluation of the applications by BIM, 31 applications were approved. As the original funding package for the whitefish programme allowed for grant aid support for some 14 vessels, I secured an extra £5.2 million in funding over and above the allocation in the whitefish renewal pro-gramme to enable the 31 new vessels to be supported. In addition to the grants approved, all the new vessels will be eligible for the special tax reliefs contained in the 1998 Finance Act, including a 50 per cent write off in year one.
In relation to modernisation of vessels, the position is that the closing date for applications for the scheme was 9 October and BIM is currently evaluating applications based on the criteria set out in the whitefish renewal programme. I expect to be in a position to announce successful applications by mid-December.
