Mr. Frank Melvin:

My colleagues and I are different from the others at the table today because we are involved in sea vegetable production. The other delegates have it in common that they are into a particular species, with which we do not deal at all. While issuing licences to individual harvesters seems fine in many ways, there is an aspect of it which would present problems for me and others. If I were to go to the county enterprise board in Sligo or IDA Ireland tomorrow morning seeking assistance to expand my business which is flourishing and has huge potential, one of the first questions I would be asked is whether I had a licence to do it. If I have no licence, that will be the beginning of the end for me, just as it would if I were to go without a licence to my bank manager to ask for financial assistance to develop the huge potential I see in my business. I am 100% certain about that potential, but all of the people mentioned will reject me simply because I do not have a licence. I am sure Deputy Thomas Pringle's intentions are good in this regard, but although what is proposed might work for some, it certainly would not work for me and my son.