The European Commission has agreed to release €13. 5 million in delayed grant aid for new Irish fishing vessels, following negotiations in Luxembourg this week with the Minister of State for the Marine, Mr Pat "the Cope" Gallagher.
The payments relate to new and refurbished fishing vessels and had been subject to a moratorium while issues about the Irish fleet were being resolved, according to Mr Gallagher.
A departmental delay in preparing the Irish register of fishing vessels had also contributed to the delay.
The Irish Fish Producers' Organisation (IFPO) has welcomed the break in the impasse.
It expressed concern last week at the hardship experienced by fishing-vessel owners, who had to take out bridging loans while awaiting the payments.
Mr Lorcán Ó Cinnéide, chief executive of the IFPO, said that fishing-vessel owners would look forward to the payments being expedited.
In a separate development, fishing industry organisations have criticised a recommendation for a complete moratorium on all cod catches in the Irish Sea next year due to a shortage of stocks.
Mr David Griffith, secretary general of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, said there was still no clear sign that cod stocks in the North Sea, Irish Sea and west of Scotland were making a recovery.
"A further problem that scientists face is substantial under-reporting of catches of cod, which makes it difficult to get a true picture of the state of these stocks," he said.
However, the IFPO and the Irish Fishermen's Organisation said that this scientific approach did not take into account the fact that cod recovery plans were already in operation in the Irish Sea.
The Scottish Fishermen's Federation has also maintained that no allowance was made for environmental and climatic changes which might be affecting cod stocks.
