Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. This is a very interesting debate and one that is very topical in the west of Ireland. It clearly also affects the north, south and south west also. It is a complicated issue. The role of the harvester was only mentioned once or twice. Looking from the outside it might be asked if it would make more sense to set up some kind of independent organisation representing the harvesters, which could then negotiate with the rest of the companies in the field for whatever price is necessary to sell the raw material to any of the companies represented here so that they would have more of a say over how the raw material is utilised.

There are a number of issues here, including the exclusive rights in an area. In my area of Connemara there is a traditional right called the striping of the seaweed and the shoreline although there is a question over the legality of that. There is a kind of common law understanding that people would have a certain stripe on the foreshore that they cut and they do not go into other people's stripes for love or money. Where are the traditional rights of the seaweed cutters being held in that regard?

Questions have been raised about the sale of Arramara Teoranta by Údarás na Gaeltachta. The BioAtlantis deputation stated there were questions to be answered. I am keen to find out which ones should be answered. What are the issues Bioatlantis, as an industry player, believes should be raised?
If an exclusive licence is granted, surely it keeps potential new players out of the market. What would happen if, for example, a co-operative in Carraroe decided to set up a venture and do something with seaweed? If some of the other companies involved, whether it be BioAtlantis, Acadian or any other player in it, have cornered the market and have licences covering the entire foreshore, where is the space for new companies to come in? Surely provision would have to be made for this in any new legislation.
There is an argument to be made about the technology being used to cut seaweed. My ancestors cut seaweed using the hand harvesting style. The BioAtlantis deputation suggested that if a licence was granted to Acadian from County Clare to Belmullet, damage could be done if the company used the technology it was using in Canada. We have been told that Irish shoreline is similar to that in Canada. What damage could potentially be done? BioAtlantis stated there was an argument to be made vis-à-visÚdarás maintaining there was a need for regulation to manage the foreshore. BioAtlantis disagrees and has suggested that potentially no management system is required. Who should manage the issue of sustainability? Is there a role for the likes of Foras na Mara? Surely there should be some independent oversight, rather than leaving it in the hands of any number of companies with licences. If there is to be regulation, it should take the form of independent regulation, rather than leaving it to the stakeholders who own the licences. We have got into trouble in other areas in Ireland during the years and I question whether we should go that way.
I gather the harvesters maintain that it might be better to go down the route of their setting up a co-operative or other organisation to represent their rights, almost like a fair trade scenario. We have seen this happen in the case of coffee bean growers and other companies throughout the world. They believe the cake is being carved up by the companies and that their rights are being excluded. What is the view of the deputations on such a scenario?
There was a meeting recently between Oireachtas representatives from County Galway and the Minister which several people in attendance at the committee today attended. My understanding is that no complaint has been made as of yet by the European Commission's directorate for the environment and that the licensing regime is being brought forward as a precautionary measure to pre-empt potential problems in this area. Do the deputations have views on this? Are there examples of complaints made against individuals harvesting along the coastline?