Functions under Part II of the Fisheries Act 1981 (schemes of financial assistance)
2.—(1) A scheme under section 15() may be limited so as to apply only to Northern Ireland fishing boats.
(2) The functions conferred by sections 15 and 16() of—
(a)making schemes applying only to Northern Ireland fishing boats, the Northern Ireland zone or a specified area within the Northern Ireland zone,
(b)making grants and loans in accordance with such schemes,
(c)requiring the Sea Fish Industry Authority to administer such schemes,
(d)giving directions about accounts with respect to payments made under such schemes,
(e)approving schemes of audit for such schemes, and
any function conferred by such schemes on a Minister of the Crown shall be treated as exercisable in or as regards Northern Ireland for the purposes of sections 6 (legislative competence) and 86 (provision for purposes consequential on Act etc.) of the 1998 Act and shall be transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
(3) Those functions shall, despite their transfer, be exercisable by the person by whom they were exercisable immediately before the transfer as well as by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
(4) Section 15(3) and (4) shall not apply to a scheme made by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, but any such scheme—
(a)shall be a statutory rule for the purposes of the Statutory Rules (Northern Ireland) Order 1979();
(b)shall be laid before the Assembly after being made; and
(c)shall cease to have effect (without prejudice to anything previously done thereunder or to the making of a new scheme) after the expiration of the period of three months beginning with the day on which it is made, unless within that period it has been approved by a resolution of the Assembly.
(5) Where Ministers of the Crown propose to make a scheme under section 15, they shall consult the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development if—
(a)the fishing boats to which the scheme is to apply include Northern Ireland fishing boats, or
(b)the area to which the scheme is to extend includes all or part of the Northern Ireland zone.
(6) Section 16(5) shall not apply to a scheme made by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, but instead—
(a)the auditors shall complete the audit of the accounts and send copies of the statement of accounts and of their report on the accounts and the statement to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development as soon as possible after the end of the financial year to which they relate and in any event not later than 30th September following the end of that year, and
(b)the Minister in charge of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall lay copies of the statement and report before the Assembly.
(7) In their application to a scheme made by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development—
(a)sections 15(1) and 16(3) shall have effect with the substitution of “the Department of Finance and Personnel” for “the Treasury”, and
(b)section 16(6) shall have effect with the substitution for the reference to the Comptroller and Auditor General of a reference to the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland.