Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 February 2018
486. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of persons that benefitted from the lost at sea scheme; his plans to allow these persons to sell or transfer to third parties their licences in view of the fact they are near retirement age and may not have family members interested in taking up fishing as a career; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5882/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Lost at Sea Scheme was a limited scheme introduced in 2001. Its objective was to enable qualifying applicants, who had experienced the accidental loss of a vessel under certain specified circumstances and who were otherwise unable to do so for financial or related reasons, to continue a family tradition of sea-fishing.
The objective of the scheme was to assist families in introducing a replacement for a lost vessel which would be owned and skippered by the applicant or by an immediate relation of the applicant.
Essentially the scheme provided replacement capacity (not direct financial compensation) which the applicant would otherwise have had to purchase on the tonnage market, for the purpose of introducing a replacement vessel for a fishing boat lost at sea between 1980 and the establishment of the fishing boat register in 1990. There were six successful applicants under the scheme.
Under the terms of the scheme, replacement capacity in the form of gross tonnage and kilowatt engine power was provided free of charge to qualifying applicants equivalent to the capacity of the lost vessel and the capacity awarded to the successful applicants could not be traded, sold on or otherwise disposed of for financial gain. The terms of the scheme were introduced as a balance taking into account that capacity was granted free of charge at a time when other entrants into the fleet were required to purchase replacement capacity at a high cost.
I have no plans to consider a change to this licensing policy which would involve the privatisation of such capacity.
