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.
