Irish fishing industry representatives say they have received assurances from the EU fisheries commissioner Joe Borg that he fully supports the proposed compensation package for fishermen in return for the re-structuring of the Irish fishing fleet.
The Government plans to seek EU approval for an allocation €66 million to fishermen in exchange for the decommissioning of one third of the Irish white fish fleet.
The decommissioning programme is part of the commission's attempt to modernise the EU's fishing industry.
The European Commission must permit the Irish Government to make the €66 million allocation under EU state aid guidelines.
At a meeting in Brussels today, Mr Borg met with the President of the Fishing Federation of Ireland Lorcán Ó Cinnéide and representatives of the three main regional fisheries to discuss the future of the Irish fishing industry.
The fishing industry representatives are understood to have told the Commissioner that they wanted this issue to be dealt with by the Commission in the coming weeks and that it was not to be put on the long finger.
Fianna Fáil MEP Seán Ó Neachtain, who also attended the meeting, said: "The Commissioner said he fully supports the impending application which is being made by the Irish Government to the European Commission for state aid approval once it is in accordance with EU rules and once it contributes to the reduction in fishing effort in EU waters."
Mr Ó Neachtain said: "If Ireland de-commissions part of our fishing fleet this cannot mean that the European Commission can seek to try and reduce our fish quota entitlements for the coming years. "Irish fishermen have a right to 'quota stability' so that they can make commercial decisions on a firm footing," he added.
Mr Ó Cinnéide was accompanied in the talks by Sean O Donoghue, the head of the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation; Gerard O Flynn, the head of the South and West Fishermen's Organisation; and Michael Walsh, the head of the South and East Fishermen's Organisation.