Vol. 561 No. 4
321 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he supports the installation of refrigerated tanks in Irish fishing vessels; if so, if grant support will be available for same; and if not, the reasons therefor. [4514/03]
Under national fleet policy which derives from legal EU obligations, fishing vessels with refrigerated seawater (RSW) tanks have been confined to the dedicated pelagic segment of the fishing fleet. The introduction of new RSW tank boats to the pelagic segment requires 100% replacement capacity.
Applications were received in 1999 and 2000 to introduce RSW tank boats into the multi-purpose whitefish segment in order to fish for herring and mackerel. Given fundamental policy and technical implications, the conditions of licences granted to these applicants required the prior de-commissioning of the RSW tanks. The applicants accepted licences with the precondition.
Pending a review of licensing policy and all other relevant considerations, a moratorium on the introduction of vessels with tanks (either functioning or non functioning) into the whitefish fleet was put in place in February 2001. The review of licensing policy is under way and a report of the review group is expected in June.
Grant aid under the National Development Plan 2000-2006 for fleet renewal has been focused on enhancing the operational efficiency, competitiveness and safety of the whitefish fleet and has not been made available towards the introduction of capacity into the fleet primarily targeting pelagic species. As most of the available funding for fleet renewal has already been committed and as current EU policy links future funding of fleet renewal with fleet cuts and ceases altogether at the end of 2004, it is not anticipated that grant aid will be made available for fleet renewal in the future.
