Written answers
Tuesday, 3 October 2023
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Brexit Supports
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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510. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will publish, in tabular form, a full breakdown of all funding allocated by his Department under the Brexit adjustment reserve processing capital support scheme, by applicant, project, funds applied for, funds allocated, application date, funds drawn down to date, funds outstanding, and deadline for payment; any rejected applications by applicant, project and funds applied for; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42757/23]
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Seafood Capital Processing Support Scheme, aimed at supporting industry-led transformative capital investments, has a budget of €45million.
Projects approved under schemes funded under the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) must be completed and paid before the end of 2023. To date 61 applications, with a total approved applications value of €33.4 million, have been approved under this Scheme. As the assessment of applications under this Scheme is ongoing, it would not be appropriate at this point to offer any further detail.
As with all BAR Schemes, the Seafood Capital Processing Support Scheme is administered by an Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), under the oversight of my Department, and BIM publishes the list of beneficiaries under the Brexit Adjustment Reserve Fund once full scheme details online at BIM - The Brexit Adjustment Reserve Fund.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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511. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason his Department and associated State agencies working with the fishing and aquaculture industries in Ireland have set a deadline of 30 October 2023 for drawdown of funding from the Brexit adjustment reserve fund, when the EU regulation states that expenditure needs to be incurred and paid by public authorities by 31 December 2023 and Member States need to report by 30 September 2024 about the measures carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42758/23]
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Seafood Task Force was established to examine the implications arising from the EU/UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) for the Irish Seafood Sector. The Task Force recommended a number of initiatives that could be taken to provide supports for the development and restructuring of this sector, so as to ensure a profitable and sustainable sector and to identify opportunities for jobs and economic activity in coastal communities dependent on fishing.
Based on those recommendations, under the oversight of my Department, a number of support schemes are being implemented by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), in line with DPENDR sanctions and EU regulatory requirements, and funded through the Brexit Adjustment Reserve Fund (BAR).
Payments to projects funded under these schemes must be made by 31 December 2023. This is a legal and immutable deadline, set out in the Brexit Adjustment Reserve Regulation (2021/1755). Consequently each scheme has an appropriate deadline by which time approved projects must submit their claims for payment. These deadlines have been determined in order to provide adequate time for BIM to undertake the necessary verifications and checks required in relation to all projects funded under these schemes, and to issue payments before the 31 December 2023, after which date payments will not be eligible for funding under the BAR.
The Department and BIM are actively reviewing the deadlines for submission of claims and considering what adjustments, if any, may be appropriate.
Further information on these schemes is available here - BIM - The Brexit Adjustment Reserve Fund.
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