Debate contribution: Fisheries Act 2020 (Scheme for Financial Assistance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024
Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on .
- MLA
- Mr Andrew Muir
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 24 June 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Fisheries Act 2020 (Scheme for Financial Assistance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4497469
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I beg to move
I am pleased to bring the statutory rule (SR) before the Assembly for approval. The draft Fisheries Act 2020 (Scheme for Financial Assistance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024 are made under powers conferred by the Fisheries Act 2020. The draft regulations were laid in the Assembly on 30 May 2024 and are subject to the draft affirmative resolution procedure, hence today's debate. Fisheries are a devolved matter, and the Fisheries Act 2020 provides the enabling powers for each of the fishing administrations of the UK to make schemes for financial assistance for marine and fisheries purposes. Tailored schemes for financial assistance are enforced in England, Scotland and Wales, and this statutory rule will provide the long-term legal basis for the payment of grants by my Department to Northern Ireland marine, fisheries — including inland fisheries — seafood and aquaculture stakeholders. I have met a broad range of stakeholders, and the opening of the scheme will provide much-needed support for the sector.
The scheme has been designed to support the needs of stakeholders, taking into account the contributions from those who responded to the Department's public consultation in 2022 and the subsequent stakeholder engagement. The statutory rule sets the overarching framework regulations for the payment of grants by my Department. It includes details of the application procedure, lists specific areas that are ineligible for funding and provides the Department with powers to attach conditions to grants, require the repayment of grants if certain conditions are not satisfied and provide for the enforcement function in relation to potential offences. The statutory rule has been carefully developed to ensure that future grant schemes have the flexibility to meet new policies and the needs of the Northern Ireland fishing and seafood sector as they change over time. That includes the option to extend the types of funding that have been provided under previous grant support programmes, such as business diversification and progression towards net zero targets. Subject to the Assembly's approval of the motion today, the regulations will be made and will come into operation to enable the application system to go live in July 2024. Approval of the statutory rule will enable £3·4 million of funding to be provided to stakeholders in the current financial year. The £3·4 million consists of £1·9 million replacement EU funding from Treasury, £0·5 million of green growth funding for fisheries, and £1 million green growth funding for blue carbon and marine recovery initiatives. For 2024-25, my Department will offer grant support under the following themes: investments on board fishing vessels and training; fisheries innovation, science and partnerships; environment and conservation action; blue carbon restoration; development of Northern Ireland's aquaculture; the processing and marketing of fish and aquaculture produce; and fishing port infrastructure. In the longer term, the legislation will drive meaningful change to increase sustainability and economic resilience and deliver a significantly decarbonised sector and a thriving marine environment. The statutory rule is vital to deliver the vision that my Department shares with other fisheries policy authorities, as set out in the joint marine policy statement for:
"clean, healthy, safe, productive, and biologically diverse oceans and seas."
In conclusion, I thank the Committee for its prompt consideration of the SL1 at its meeting on 16 May 2024 and the draft statutory rule on 13 June. I acknowledge that the Examiner of Statutory Rules included the statutory rule in her report published on 11 June. Finally, I thank the Business Office for scheduling the motion for debate ahead of the summer recess, thereby enabling the 2024-25 financial support scheme, subject to the approval of the statutory rule by the Assembly today, to open as planned in July. I commend the motion to the Assembly and ask for the statutory rule to be approved.
628 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.51 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.94 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.06 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:48 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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