From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
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The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, today announced that projects approved for funding under the Brexit Processing Capital Support Scheme now have until 15 November to submit their claims for payment under the scheme.
The Scheme aims to support the Irish processing sector to engage in transformational change, mitigating the effects of the EU/UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA)/Brexit while also building more environmentally friendly, sustainable and competitive enterprises which serve the EU and wider global markets, create higher levels of employment more locally, and make better and more sustainable use of Irish landed or imported raw material.
The Minister said:
“Ireland’s fish processing sector sustains over 4,000 jobs and is of particular importance to the economies of our rural coastal communities. Domestically, the sector is a key contributor to Irish and EU food supply and, in particular, food security in a time where supply chains have been heavily disrupted by global events. Internationally, the sector is a significant exporter. However the sector has been substantially impacted by the TCA, and this scheme aims to support the processing sector to mitigate those impacts. By extending the claim deadline for projects approved under this scheme, I am engaging with Bord Iascaigh Mhara to maximise the time available to these projects to submit their claims in order to ensure the budget for this scheme is utilised to its fullest potential.”
The scheme, which has a budget of €45 million, is aimed at supporting industry led transformative capital investments that enable the sector to focus on “creating more from less” in the wake of reduced supply of raw material and moving enterprises in the sector further up the supply chain to produce higher value product and shifting the industry to a focus on secondary processing and beyond to products targeting end-user markets. The Scheme is available to applicants who are both an onshore processing SME and have an SFPA approval number with activity code FFPP (Fresh Fishing Products Plant) or PP (Processing Plant).
The Scheme is administered by Bord Iascaigh Mhara and further details are available from BIM at BIM - The Brexit Adjustment Reserve Fund.
In March 2021, Minister McConalogue set up the Seafood Sector Task Force to examine the implications for the Irish Fishing industry and coastal communities particularly dependent upon it arising from the Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement, agreed between the European Union and the UK. The Task Force was charged with recommending initiatives that could be taken to provide supports for development and restructuring, so as to ensure a sustainable fishing fleet and to identify opportunities for jobs and economic activity in coastal communities dependent on fishing.
Minister McConalogue received the Report of the Seafood Task Force – Navigating Change on 11 October 2021. The report recommended 16 support schemes at a total estimated cost of €423 million. These stakeholder recommendations were examined across Government with particular regard to available funds, eligibility of the recommended measures for funding under the EU Brexit Adjustment Reserve and with regard to State Aid rules and the Public Spending Code. These schemes reflect the implementation of the Sea Food Task Force Recommendations.
These stakeholder recommendations were examined across Government with particular regard to available funds, eligibility of the recommended measures for funding under the EU Brexit Adjustment Reserve and with regard to State Aid rules and the Public Spending Code. These schemes reflect the implementation of the Sea Food Task Force Recommendations.
The following extension will apply.
| Scheme | Current claim deadline | Proposed extension |
| Brexit Capital Processing Scheme | 30 October 2023 | 15 November 2023 |