Mr. John O'Sullivan:

On the first issue regarding the harvesting rights, my only issue in that regard is that most areas from County Clare to County Mayo are special areas of conservation. In 2013, I received notification that the sale of Arramara Teoranta had gone through, with which I had an issue. We now have no control over whether we will be supplied. We spent almost eight months preparing our submission to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. Dr. Kieran Guinan worked full time on that project with Ecofact Environmental Consultants Limited. This is about more than just seaweed. Birds and seals must be taken into account. Much of what happens is no longer in the control of the Irish people. Unfortunately, these decisions are made by Europe. In regard to whether an individual harvester should be allowed to harvest, while I have no objection to that, I find it difficult to believe that it will be possible for everybody to do so. It will also be virtually impossible to validate and monitor. I have no issue with the concept.

Arramara Teoranta was a state company. BioAtlantis Limited went into production in 2007, at which time we obtained our dry raw material from Arramara Teoranta. As we were dealing with a body of the State, there was never any need for us to engage in harvesting. It is perhaps something we might have envisaged doing further down the road. Currently, Arramara Teoranta is owned by our major competitor worldwide. I have worked in the food industry since 1989. I worked for Golden Vale and Kerry Group. I have never come across a company that has used the tactics being used by Acadian Seaplants. That is my opinion. The food industry is tough. There is a line one does not cross. We have to have control of our resource. Otherwise, we will have to consider moving our operation to Scotland.

I received a letter from the Minister of State, Deputy McGinley. I have not heard for months from the Minister, Deputy Deenihan, but amazingly I also received a letter from him yesterday. The Minister of State, Deputy McGinley, states in his letter that he is informed that our supply is guaranteed into the future, with no definition of what is meant by "into the future". Does "into the future" mean a political term of five years? We are trying to build a long-term company. The Kerry Group started in a greenfield site in 1973. I had the joy and privilege of working in that company. The objective is to build long-term companies, not companies that are going to disappear the first time something goes wrong. Companies are either in it for the long haul or they are not.

As stated by an earlier speaker, all the Chinese operators want is raw material. They do not give a fiddlers about the quality of it. They want it for the fracking industry. They just buy up what they want and move on. While the concept of what is suggested is good, it will not work. The solution is to grant a licence to a number of different companies and to provide that where an operator does not play ball, abuses harvesters by not providing them with proper terms and conditions or fails to take care of the SACs, the licence may be withdrawn. Licences not used properly should be withdrawn. The solution is to use the best of industry in conjunction with the best of local harvesters. The cost of investing in the boats picking up the weed from the areas is €200,000. Trying to pike weed with a four-pronged pike is no good. We have been there and done that. It is not something that one would recommend to anybody in the 21st century. We should be trying to make this as easy as possible using the traditional method. Licences should be granted to the people interested in harvesting. In my view, there are not that many genuine harvesters. The person willing to harvest 800 tonnes per year will earn €30,000 to €40,000 per annum doing so. That is a decent income, which could be increased through a combined activity.

In regard to the statutory regulation mentioned, I am not sure to what that relates. It appears to relate to a grant. Údarás na Gaeltachta turned down our offer, despite the fact that we are an Irish company. It then received an offer from Acadian Seaplants and grant-aided it in respect of future investments. As far as I can see, that is what happened. I cannot verify that. Perhaps someone should ask Údarás na Gaeltachta if it has grant-aided that company or put in writing that any future investment in Arramara will be grant-aided. Has it put in writing that any investment will be related to the granting of the licences for harvesting from County Clare to County Mayo?

We submitted our licence application in January. Arramara submitted its application in March or April. We applied for 12,500 tonnes. We do not want to be stepping on anybody's toes. OGT in Donegal has applied for a licence for 9,000 tonnes. The traditional area for Arramara weed is Galway.

We respected that area, but next we have a licence application coming which covers an area from County Clare to County Mayo. In Clew Bay alone, we have to manage 110 km of coastline.