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14 December 2009 - Lost at Sea Scheme

Part One - Appendix B - Response of the Ombudsman to the Department's letter of 11 February 2009

13 March 2009

Mr Tom Moran
Secretary General
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Kildare St
Dublin 2

Dear Mr Moran

Thank you for your letter to my Office dated 11 February in relation to the quantification of redress arising from my investigation into the complaint made by Mr Danny Byrne regarding the rejection of his family’s application under the Lost at Sea Scheme.

As you know the outcome which was sought by the complainant when he made the complaint to my Office was the granting of tonnage denied to him under the Lost at Sea Scheme. However, given the reasons outlined by your Department, I accepted that such an outcome was not achievable given the current national and EU restrictions which apply to the granting of additional tonnage. My view was that some form of financial redress was the only alternative, provided that the sum to be paid was calculated on a  fair and objective basis and was not based on arbitrary criteria. That is why I felt that for the purpose of the calculation of redress the 2008 Decommissioning Scheme could provide a fair and objective methodology to arrive at a redress figure given that this Scheme was designed to compensate certain fishermen, including those who had re-entered the fishing industry through the Lost at Sea Scheme, who were now willing to surrender their tonnage and leave the industry.

I note that your Department has calculated a sum amounting to a total of €245,570 which is the basic payment allowable under the Scheme. This is based on a payment of €1,000 per gross tonne of the Byrne family’s boat which sank. The Department has indicated that the additional payment of €2,500 per gross tonne which is allowable under the scheme for boats with transferable tonnage is not warranted in this case as Lost at Sea tonnage was not tradeable or transferable and I accept this. The Department has also indicated that the additional “catch incentive premium” of up to €3,000 per gross tonne should not be part of the calculation as this is based on declared landings in respect of certain types of whitefish stocks (and up to one third of non-specified stocks) for applicants who applied under the Decommissioning Scheme before 31 December 2007. Again, I agree that the Department’s approach in this regard is reasonable. I also note that the Department has agreed not to apply the decommissioning reductions based on the age of  vessels.

Having regard to the foregoing I am satisfied that a sum of redress amounting to €245,570 represents a fair and reasonable amount to bring about a full and final settlement of this complaint and under the provisions of Section 6(3) of the Ombudsman Act, 1980 I recommend accordingly. You are requested to notify me of your Department’s response to the recommendation not later than 27 March 2009.

Yours sincerely

Emily O’Reilly
Ombudsman

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