Fishing hardship scheme ‘is not working’

Just 151 out of 1,800 fishermen hit by last winter’s storms have taken up the Government’s package, branding it far less effective than a scheme introduced in the North.

Extreme weather conditions has cost the fishing industry more than €40m and hundreds of fishermen are still not back to work because of damaged boats and lost gear.

Many face financial ruin, bankruptcy and the dole, the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine heard yesterday, amid calls for Marine Minister Simon Coveney to introduce an effective compensation scheme for fishing families in distress.