Mr. John O'Sullivan:

I thank the Chairman and committee members for taking the time to meet us. We made a detailed submission and we ask all members to take time out to read it. We have five minutes to make a case today but the majority of the detail is in the submission.

BioAtlantis commenced business in 2004. It commissioned its production facility in 2007 and got into the market at that point. Since then, we have grown at an average annual rate of 45%, which by any standards is decent. We plan to grow at 25% per annum going forward. Our spend in the Irish economy in 2013 was €2.9 million and our spend in 204 will be much greater. That is normal business practice.

Our primary resource and raw material is Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed. Having control of that raw material is critical to us and to the future of our industry. What we want is that companies should not be allowed to monopolise the resource. A maximum of 25% of the total resource should be allowed to any one processor. Licences should only be granted to responsible processors. They should be granted on an exclusive basis for specific areas.

Preference should be given to companies that add value to the seaweed resource. The committee should investigate the role of Údarás na Gaeltachta in the sale of Arramara. It was a State asset and I feel there are questions to be answered.

A monopoly over the ascophyllum resource in Ireland should not be allowed happen. That will have effects on harvesters. An application for a licence has been submitted covering the area from Clare to north Mayo for 40,000 tonnes. There is approximately 59,000 tonnes in that area. So Acadian and Arramara will be allowed to pick and choose which harvesters they want to work with, which should not be allowed. Acadian is our major competitor worldwide. Following the decision by Údarás, Acadian controls our raw material supply, which should not be allowed.

BioAtlantis plans to grow at 25% per annum. While that sounds ambitious, we have already done that over the past seven years. In this year we have grown by 25% in the first six months. The Kerry Group had a target to double in size every five years. I spent most of the 1990s working in the Kerry Group so I know what has to be done. I know where we have to go and we have put the foundations in place.

Licenses must be granted to responsible processors only. This will ensure the environment is protected; overharvesting will not occur; SAC and SPAs, where the majority of the seaweed grows, will be fully protected; full traceability will be available; and ease of monitoring by the Department.

There are problems with unregulated harvesting. There are specific examples in Clew Bay where all the holdfast was taken out. That means it may not grow anymore. It is vital to be responsible.

Licences are granted on an exclusive basis for specific areas. If licences are not granted for specific areas it will result in confusion, a lack of clarity and a lack of responsibility leading to blame game, with people saying, "He did it; it's not our fault". There also needs to be knowledge of specific requirements for each SAC and SPA.

We have applied for a harvesting licence for 12,500 tonnes in Clew Bay. We have to take account of all the islands in the bay. We have quantified the resource on all those islands. Some of them are already overharvested meaning that we must not harvest them for the next two to three years. We have had to take account of the seals. The mudflats were omitted from the plan; we will not be harvesting in the area around the mudflats. We will also omit areas where the seals are moulting or breeding or do so only at specific times of the year. This has to be done properly. The birds have to be protected. Account has to be taken of a resting site for birds and those areas are omitted at certain times of year.

Preference should be given to companies that add value. We have invested in research and IP. We have three patents. We have invested in equipment and in complex processes and formulations. We have put in place the basis for a high-growth company. The resource is a serious asset to us. It is not coming in and out. It is our livelihood and we will cherish it because it is our lifeblood.

Arramara, which wants rights from Clare to north Mayo, including Belmullet, is only drying seaweed. It is adding a small amount of value, but it does not add high value. Why should it be allowed to control that area?

BioAtlantis plans to protect stakeholders in Clew Bay, including the processors and harvesters. We are looking at 20 full-time jobs or 40 part-time jobs. Some people might prefer to work at certain times of the year and work on the farm or wherever for other times of the year. We can go either way. We have the resource. We have to have a strong development plan and we have put that in place. We have to take care of the environment as it represents our future. We have to take care of the SACs and SPAs. This is regulated by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, but it does not have a free handle here. Europe is looking down on us. If it is not done properly Europe will intervene and prevent it from happening. Tere are already fines from Europe because of breaches.

In Clew Bay hand-harvesting can continue in a traditional way with 20 full-time or 40 part-time jobs. We plan to take out some of the hardship related to hand-harvesting. No one would say this is an easy job. The majority of people are interested now because the economy went belly up in 2007. The traditional harvesters may not exist and some of the hardship must be removed from them.

We compared the traditional methods used in Ireland with processes in other countries for use in Clew Bay. We asked if it made sense to use the rake system used Canada where harvesters work on barges. It looks lovely and is interesting. However, the majority of Clew Bay SAC is made up of small pebbles. Seaweed would grow on a person's fist. When harvesting small pebbles with a rake, once picked up the whole thing is gone. Acadian has allowed for 6% mortality in Canada. In Clew a maximum mortality of 1% will be allowed. We need to focus on the fucus.

I will outline the benefits of licensing BioAtlantis in Clew Bay. A monopoly of the resource is avoided. A license is granted to a responsible processor. BioAtlantis will take care of the resource. The harvesting methodology will remove much of the hardship from the harvesters because we are using a collection vessel, which allows more time for cutting and ensures there is full traceability. There will be a full plan over the quality because one can see whether stones or fucus is brought in. It provides a huge opportunity to control. We have 20 full-time jobs or 40 part-time jobs. It will allow us to continue on our strong growth trajectory.

The final slide contains our recommendations which I initially asked.