SW FLAG Submission to Consultation on Seafood Development Plan

2014-2020

P r o p o s e d fund ing f r o m 2014 -2020 equa ls €12 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . €12 mi l l ion less 10% on ave rage for

admin i s t ra t i on = € 1 0 . 8 m i l l i on . €10.8 mi l l ion d i v ided by 42 = € 2 6 0 , 0 0 0 / p e r a n n u m per FLAG (6 year

p r o g r a m m e x7 FLAGS =42). A p p r o x €260 ,000 in g ran t a i d for projects in each F L A G a rea .

Coasta l c o m m u n i t i e s are per iphera l to m a i n s t r e a m serv i ces par t icu lar ly in the sou th w e s t due to the

geograph ica l and pen insu la r loca t ion . These loca t ions a re charac ter ised by o n g o i n g rural e ros ion ,

de f i c iency of se rv ices , bus iness c losures and p o p u l a t i o n dec l i ne . Enterpr ise and soc ia l d e v e l o p m e n t

are cr i t ical fac tors in s u p p o r t i n g the local c i rcu lar e c o n o m y and in turn , c o m m u n i t y d e v e l o p m e n t .

The absence of Fore ign Di rect Investment and l im i ted H igh Potent ia l G r o w t h bus iness sector

emphas i ses the n e e d for the suppor t of local and f r e q u e n t l y l ow tech bus inesses in t he serv ices and

tou r i sm sectors . Th is is s u p p o r t e d by the high leve l of en t rep reneu r i a l act iv i ty in the South W e s t

reg ion as d e m o n s t r a t e d th rough recent G loba l E n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p M o n i t o r 2013 Repo r t wh i ch shows

that t he rate of ear ly s tage en t rep reneur ia l act iv i ty is at its h ighest s ince the onse t of the e c o n o m i c

cr isis. This inc rease ac t ion is d e m o n s t r a t e d by the i nc reas ing n u m b e r and scope o f pro jec ts rece ived

re f lec t ing i nc reased tact ica l i nves tmen t act iv i ty t h r o u g h the suppor t of the S W F L A G in 2015.

The FLAG p r o g r a m m e is h o p e d to p r o m o t e a b o t t o m u p app roach in c o m m u n i t y loca l d e v e l o p m e n t .

Coasta l reg ions have f e w o the r a l te rnat ives e c o n o m i c oppo r tun i t i es o ther than t h o s e p rov ided by

the mar ine . i .e. aquacu l t u re , sea food p rocess ing and m a r i n e tou r i sm. The a l te rna t i ve to prov id ing

local mar ine re la ted en te rp r i se is a con t i nued m ig ra t i on of popu la t ion f r o m the rura l coas ta l reg ions

to large urban cen t res .

The FLAG p r o g r a m m e is sti l l on ly in its in fancy in I re land .The strategies are in p lace and be ing

i m p l e m e n t e d in each a rea , but it is real ly on ly n o w t h e genera l publ ic are b e c o m i n g a w a r e of the

benef i ts o f t h e FLAG p r o g r a m m e and the d ivers i ty o f p ro jec ts it is able to f u n d . A l s o as the upturn in

the e c o n o m y s t reng thens ove r the next f e w years w e a re hopefu l that peop le ' s c o n f i d e n c e to invest

and innova te wi l l i nc rease the supply of n e w and w o r t h w h i l e projects for the FLAGs to suppor t as

we l l as par t ic ipate in m o r e b road scale t h e m a t i c p ro jec ts to address spec i f i c issues in FLAG areas.

The Ac t i on Plan fo r Sma l l Sca le Coasta l F isher ies (SSCF) w i l l increasingly d e p e n d on the fund ing

ava i lab le th rough F L A G s and g iven there wi l l be an i nc reased n u m b e r of FLAGS the fund ing be ing

l im i ted in this w a y wi l l s tagnate the p r o g r a m m e and rest r ic t its abi l i ty to con t r i bu te s igni f icant ly to

the e c o n o m i c d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e FLAG areas, just at a t i m e w h e n peop le are b e c o m i n g more

fami l i a r w i th the p r o g r a m m e . The cap on grant a id of € 2 0 , 0 0 0 0 , wh i le on ly an admin i s t ra t i ve issue, is

a ser ious obs tac le to a t t rac t ing s o m e o f t h e in i t ia t ives t ha t m a y be requ i red to d r i ve change in the

SSCF. This cap m u s t be r e c o n s i d e r e d .

It is unden iab le tha t C F P , M S F D and Integrated M a r i t i m e P lann ing wi l l have rami f i ca t ions on SSCF

c o m m u n i t i e s and w h i l e s o m e of these ac t ions are lega l ly requ i red the f und ing u n d e r t he Un ion

Pr ior i ty 4 shou ld be ava i lab le to of fset negat ive i m p a c t s . The pos i t ion ing o f SSCF to s tep up to the

p late in t e rms of i n te rac t ing and negot ia t ing change and fu tu re so lu t ions mus t be s u p p o r t e d . There

is no e f for t t o recogn i se the i nves tmen t o f t h e c o m m u n i t i e s as having an imp l ic i t va lue th rough

h u m a n capi ta l w h i c h shou ld be ab le to he lp t h e m leve rage the adv ice, exper t i se a n d fac i l i t ies that

they need to t ru ly rea l i se the ful l po tent ia l o f w h a t c o m m u n i t y led local d e v e l o p m e n t can do.

SW FLAG Submission to Consultation on Seafood Development Plan

2014-2020

G i v e n t l i e level of f und ing the rem i t for the CLLD t h r o u g h seven FLAGs is very far reach ing . W h i l e t he

b r o a d n e s s o f t h e remi t is re f lec t ive o f t h e areas and cha l l enges faced , to tack le these cha l l enges in a

c o m p l e t e and ef fec t ive w/ay with l ong te rm benef i ts t he budge t is ex t reme ly l imi t ing. It w/ill be

u n t e n a b l e for the FLAGs to de l i ve r in any mean ing fu l w/ay if t he budget is reduced to any ex ten t f r o m

the € 12 ,000 ,000 cur rent ly a l l oca ted . G i ven the respons ib i l i t y under Un ion Pr ior i ty 4 to se rv i ce so

m u c h o f ou r coasta l SSCF c o m m u n i t i e s there shou ld be no ques t i on of any reduc t ion in t he a l l oca ted

f u n d i n g . O n the cont rary f und ing for FLAG'S shou ld be i nc reased f rom its p resent leve l , o f

a p p r o x i m a t e l y 5%, to 10 % of the overa l l E M F F / N a t i o n a l f u n d . A t the very least have a c o n t i n g e n c y

for ex t ra f und ing to be m a d e ava i lab le to the FLAG'S f r o m any unspen t mon ies in o ther ca tego r ies o f

the S e a f o o d D e v e l o p m e n t P r o g r a m m e 2014-2020 ove r the du ra t i on the p r o g r a m m e . The re are

s ign i f i can t cha l lenges a h e a d . G i ven the respons ib i l i t y u n d e r U n i o n Pr ior i ty 4 to serv ice so m u c h of

ou r coas ta l SSCF c o m m u n i t i e s the re shou ld be no q u e s t i o n o f any reduc t ion in the a l l oca ted f u n d i n g .