Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 March 2014
10. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason the scheme of assistance for pot fishermen is capped at 50 pots for boats under 12 m, rather than 100 pots as is the case for 12 to 15 m boats in view of the fact that the majority of vessels affected by recent events are under 10 m in length; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13223/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy question refers to the fact that the smaller fishermen who work from the coastline out to the six-mile limit are being penalised because their boats are too small, which seems unfair, given that they are in most need of the Minister's help. I ask him to give his views on the matter.
Deputy Wallace has raised a point that fishermen have also raised with me. I asked BIM to put together a scheme that could help inshore fishermen who have lost lobster pots, crab pots and so on. The intention was that the Department would pay 40% of the replacement costs. BIM representatives came back to me with a proposal. They asked me how much money was available and I told them the budget was €1.5 million. I am not getting any extra money from the Exchequer for this but have to take money from other areas in my Department, unlike the situation with the piers and harbours fund, for which we are getting money through a Supplementary Estimate. At the moment, we are committing €1.5 million to this sector. We then had to try to prioritise within the sector. BIM made the straightforward recommendation that generally bigger boats have more pots. That is why we said that we would limit the aid to 50 pots for boats under 12 m and 100 pots for vessels under 15 m, which I thought was reasonable. However, when we go through the initial application of this scheme, if we have not spent the full amount we will look at reallocating the remaining funds in certain cases.
It is too early to say if that will happen, but we have committed to a certain scheme. The reasoning behind it is that, generally, larger boats have more pots; therefore, we wanted to give them access to more funding as in all likelihood they would have lost more pots. That is the rationale behind the decision. There is no hidden reason for it. We thought this was a straightforward way to go, but, obviously, we will re-evaluate the matter once the initial funds have been allocated.
Fishing boats between 12 m and 15 m are practically non-existent in Wexford. The fishermen who got on to me reckon there are 50 boats working inshore, but only one of them is between 12 m and 15 m. Most of the 12 m to 15 m fishing boats work off County Donegal. However, the fishermen who have suffered the most are those with smaller vessels. They claim they have lost between 200 and 300 pots, but they will only be eligible to have 50 replaced. These are the guys who most need the Department’s help. Will the Minister examine this issue again to maximise the potential to help those who most need the Department’s help? The smaller boats in the Wexford area were the worst affected by the recent storms.
I have got some feedback and know most of the boats in Wexford are smaller. We will re-evaluate the scheme, but we cannot change it because it is in the process of being applied. I cannot change any scheme midstream. If there are moneys left over, we will look at how best we can spend them to the best possible effect. My objective is to help as many people as possible. There are many onshore fishermen who are in real difficulty after the winter storms. Many of them have lost a lot of gear and I am looking to help them to replace it. However, I only have a limited amount of money to spend and I am trying to spread it thinly across the sector. If the €1.5 million allocated for the scheme is not fully spent, we will look at how we can reallocate it as fairly as possible. I will take on board what the Deputy said in that regard.
I realise the Minister has a limited amount to spend and that €1.5 million will not go far among the many fishermen affected. Will he, however, prioritise giving the maximum help to those who most need it, namely, the smaller guys? It looks to me that the guy who is better off with his larger boat and who can probably better take the knock is getting more help than the guy with the smaller boat, the one who suffered the most in the storms. The Minister has made the point that he has decided what moneys will be distributed. Obviously, there will be no money left over from the initial allocation; therefore, I appeal for the application of fairness. Without a shadow of doubt, the bigger one is, the more power and influence one has the greater the chance of getting a fair deal. The smaller one is, the more challenging it is. Will the Minister seek to bring more fairness to the scheme?
The Deputy has made his point.
There are plenty of owners of boats between 12 m and 15 m in length who are in difficulty too following the storms. The problems are not solely confined to boats under 12 m. I would like to have much more to spend in this sector. We are examining broader actions we can take to help the inshore sector, which is not before time either, but I only have €1.5 million to spend. We will see the existing scheme, which is appropriate, through and if we have money left over, we will look at how we can allocate it as fairly as we can to those who need it most.
