Mr. Jean-Paul Deveau:

I would like to reiterate and confirm what has been stated, that there was no assurance of any raw material, resource or licence of any type for us. We knew that in purchasing Arramara, we were purchasing a company that did not have rights to any seaweed. Two of the points raised by Senator O'Sullivan concerned the supply of material to the customers, in particular Brandon Products and Bio Atlantis. One of the challenges for us is that because we do not have any rights to the seaweed, this makes it difficult for us to guarantee absolutely that we can provide both of the customers mentioned with an ongoing supply. That said, we have given a guarantee to Údarás na Gaeltachta that those companies will be our first priority and that we will supply to them on an ongoing basis to the extent we can obtain seaweed from harvests we receive.

It is important we go on the record in regard to Brandon Products and Bio Atlantis, two companies we know quite well. While we do not always agree on everything, we can agree on the following. We believe it is very important that Arramara and organisations such as these, which are creating value added products in Ireland, have licences, so that they will have assured access to raw material in the future and to assure they, and the others here who are making these kinds of investments in capital and in research and development, will have the raw materials necessary to create a viable industry here in Ireland. We believe this is important and believe a cluster of good companies that is working to enhance the Irish seaweed industry will be able to make a difference in the future.

I would also like to refer to the question on the harvesters. I believe past performance is a good indication of what to expect in the future. For the past 25 years, we have had quite a number of licences in Canada, where we managed the resource and worked very closely with the harvesters. We were able to map out every bed of seaweed in our licensed territories, quantify them and come up with annual harvest plans. Every harvester knows he can harvest a specific quantity on an annual basis, because of the close co-operation we have with the harvesting community. We indicate to the harvester which area to go to and how much to harvest from it and what area to move to next. These things are worked out and negotiated with the harvesting community. Based on that type of long, historic ability, the harvesters can depend on that employment year after year and we, as a company, can depend on the raw material to build the business. This kind of co-existence works for both parties.