423. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether his Department has examined the introduction of a time limited inshore weather and safety compensation scheme for active inshore fishing vessels affected by prolonged unsafe sea conditions, reduced safe fishing days and climate driven weather disruption; whether Met Éireann, the Marine Institute or any other relevant body has been asked to provide scientific evidence linking specific weather events, swell conditions, storm patterns or other climate related disruption to quantified income losses or additional costs for the inshore fleet; if his Department has assessed if such events could be formally recognised by national authorities as a natural disaster, adverse climatic event or exceptional occurrence for the purposes of EU State Aid rules; if his Department has sought guidance or pre notification engagement with EU Directorate-General for Competition or Directorate-General MARE on such a scheme under the EMFAF, the Fishery Block Exemption Regulation, the Fisheries State Aid Guidelines, or any other applicable route; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46436/26]

As the Deputy is aware there are many common challenges facing Ireland's seafood producers, and many inter-dependencies across the fisheries, aquaculture and seafood processing sectors.The climate and reduction in quotas present a significant and particular challenge to the affected fleet segments, with the potential for down stream impacts on inshore fishers .

I am very conscious of the challenges facing the inshore sector, arising from a number of factors, most recently being increasing fuel costs. The government already has a number of supports in place under Ireland’s €258 million Seafood Development Programme, which is co-funded by the Government and the EU Commission under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).

My Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine is the Managing Authority for the EMFAF programme in Ireland, with a range of projects and industry supports to the inshore sector, provided by agencies of the Department under the programme. These include:

• Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Scheme

In the period 2024-2026 €1.259 million in grant aid has been awarded to 59 projects. A further call for projects was completed in December 2025, which are currently under review.

• Inshore Fisheries Conservation Scheme – V-notching

This scheme supports the conservation of lobster through v-notching. 483 inshore vessels have participated under this scheme, amounting to grant aid of €1.325 million in grant ai.

• Seafood Training Scheme

This scheme is designed to create a talent pool for industry by developing skills and knowledge in line with EMFAF priorities.

In the period 2024-2026, 312 applicants have been awarded €309,000 in grant aid. This scheme is currently open to all eligible beneficiaries.

• Seafood Capacity Building Scheme

This scheme supports industry members to participate in BIM-led international field missions with the objective of increasing industry knowledge or supporting technology transfer

In the period 2024-2026 49 applicants have been awarded €67,000 in grant aid. This scheme is currently open to all eligible beneficiaries.

The schemes and supports outlined above will continue to be administered by BIM over the lifetime of the Seafood Development Programme 2021-2027. Inshore fishers can also access further grant aid under the Fleet Safety Scheme which is also administered by BIM.

In addition to the above, a scheme specifically for the inshore fleet was implemented in 2024 and 2025 under the Seafood Development Programme, the Inshore Fleet Economic Assessment Scheme. This scheme gathered detailed economic and operational data on Ireland’s inshore fishing fleet, with a total of €3.669 million paid to the 868 inshore fishermen who took part in the scheme.

In light of the challenges arising from the impact of quota reductions for 2026, Minister Heydon and I established a working group under the auspices of Food Vision 2030.

Mr. Michael Berkery has been appointed to act as an independent Chairperson for this group and has been tasked with drafting a Chairman’s Report including recommendations by the end of June this year. The work of this group is ongoing, and all industry representatives were invited to make submissions to the Group and have met Mr. Berkery. The challenges facing the inshore sector are being considered by the Group, and it would not be appropriate for me to pre-empt the work of that Group by commenting any further on any measures that may be put in place on foot of the Chairman's Report.

As regards the very real concerns in the inshore sector regarding fuel costs, Minister Heydon and I opened a fuel support scheme, with a budget ceiling of €15 million, for the sector on May 21 2026.