The European Union has set aside an extra £67million in a bid to encourage Irish fishermen to quit the industry post-Brexit.
The bloc announced today the European Commission has approved the €80million Irish scheme under European Union state aid rules. It explained in a statement the scheme was set up to “support” the country’s fishery sector due to the impact of Britain’s exit from the EU.
The EU said it will use the money as an incentive for vessel owners to stop commercial fishing and scrap their vessels.
Compensation will be given to Irish-registered vessel owners in the form of a direct grant via the scheme which will run until December 31, 2023.
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Fisheries and the Marine, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD said: “Today’s announcement is another tragic blow to our fishing and coastal communities. The intentional and managed collapse of our fishing industry is truly shocking for an island nation that should be maximising the immense and precious resource for our people from the seas around us.”
Under the scheme, the amount of aid will be calculated according to the weight of each scrapped boat, amounting to £3,000 (€3,600) per gross tonnage.