Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There has been a great deal of debate recently about the development of the seaweed industry in the west. I am not sure how much of it falls within the bailiwick of the witnesses. I will ask my questions anyway and see how many of them can be answered. I am a native of An Aird Mhór, Carna, which is close enough to the Arramara Teoranta plant. My ancestors were seaweed cutters and winkle pickers, etc. I was sent off to school early, so I did not do as much as my brothers and sisters. It is part of our DNA where we come from. There has been a great deal of concern in recent times about the way the industry is developing. As we know, Arramara Teoranta, which was in State ownership until quite recently, has been bought by Acadian Seaplants Limited. Witnesses from that company have appeared before this joint committee.

My primary concern relates to the harvesting methods that have traditionally been used. Industry players and semi-State organisations have suggested that we have not capitalised on the potential of the industry because we do not have a big enough player in the international market and we are not adding enough value to this material. The raw cleaning of seaweed takes place in places like Cill Chiaráin, but no value is added. All of it is exported as pellets to other countries to be developed there. Many seaweed harvesters have made a subsistence-type living from this activity over the years. They have normally harvested lorries of seaweed while doing other things, if they have other jobs on the side. This kind of hand-to-mouth existence from seaweed harvesting has been part of the local fabric of life. There are concerns from a licensing perspective about the major new player in the industry. We know that a number of bigger players have applied for blanket licences for large tracts of seashore. There is a fear that this will take the power from the traditional harvesters. Questions have been asked about who will control the market, what the price will be, how much they will cut and when they will cut.

Many legal issues have been raised as well. I know that Deputy Ó Cuív has done a great deal of work on the pertinent rights that would be attached to folios and on the legal position with regard to who does or does not have the right to cut seaweed on foreshores. Can somebody else come into a traditional stripe? If I had a stripe in Carna, for example, could somebody else legally come into that stripe? Traditionally, people would have steered away from doing that because of the history of the spite feamainne, etc. There is a kind of traditional right in such locations. Other models have been proposed by some of the seaweed harvesters that have come before us. The development of a co-operative that would act almost like a fair trade model has been mentioned. It has been suggested that if some harvesters grouped together in a co-operative-style scenario, it might give them some leverage when they are negotiating with the companies in question about when, where and how they can cut seaweed and what prices they might get, etc.

On foot of the "Ear to the Ground" documentary that was broadcast during the week, I have been contacted - most recently this morning - by smaller players who have a niche interest in the industry in Ireland. They are concerned that the larger multinationals will squeeze them out of the market bit by bit. They have suggested that large companies are coming in to get these seaweed-cutting rights so they can sell them off again. Basically, they are worried that there is a move towards the privatisation of the industry. We have a resource that needs to be used in a way that adds as much value as possible. We need to develop the industry in a way that will aid the development of the local communities where these people live and ensure they hold a stake in the industry. I am interested in the potential that was mentioned for the development of onshore, long-line and integrated multitrophic aquaculture. How could that work? How might it work in the future? I would be interested to hear the witnesses' thoughts on those issues if it is appropriate for them to comment on them.