Mr. John O'Sullivan:

Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked about the terms and conditions we would offer harvesters. Harvesting seaweed is hard work; there is nothing pretty about it. The number of people who genuinely want to take part in a life of harvesting seaweed is minimal, although there are some who have been doing it for the past ten or 15 years. I agree completely with my colleague's suggestion regarding tax and regulation. Whether one is an employee or a subcontractor, a person's aim is to build a business for himself or herself and his or her family. Some of those involved will invariably be reliant on additional sources of income. We are trying to give them a taxable income. As it stands, some of them may not be paying tax because, if they are categorised as self-employed, they are allowed to write off a lot of expenses.

Any harvester we engage will have a PRSI number and be offered a sustainable price for his or her seaweed. Harvesters are getting €35 a tonne from Arramara Teoranta; we will probably pay €40 or even €50. All harvesters will be on a contract; there will be nothing iffy about it and we will train up. Many harvesters do not know about fucus, for example, or the issues with seals. They might be perfect harvesters, but they may not be aware of these issues. As far as I am concerned, they will be treated in the same way as any employee of BioAtlantis, which is to say they will be treated properly.

The Deputy asked what discussions we had had with Acadian Seaplants Limited. The sale of Arramara Teoranta was approved early last year and an engagement began last October involving one of the company's representatives, Mr. Daniel Parker, Brandon Products and, possibly, other companies.

We were not making much progress; we seemed to be going around in circles. I took the document and said it made no sense, that the people in question had no interest in trying to do a deal. I rewrote it and said we should make a commercial contract, that this made sense and that we could do a deal. However, this was twisted and turned and with the elections the people and harvesters got to know that Aramara Teoranta was being sold. The submission on the harvesting licence was sent in and suddenly the harvesters realised the implications of what was happening. The sale of Aramara Teoranta was giving control of a seaweed resource from County Clare to County Mayo, about which everyone was excited and there was a big push to do a deal. We had a good meeting in Tralee on 24 April at which substantial progress was made. Údarás na Gaeltachta will be involved in the deal for five years, but what will happen after it leaves? Do we put a plan in place for year six? We have nothing in that respect; we cannot be in this business for a five year game. Údaras na Gaeltachta, the Department of Arts, Heritage an the Gaeltacht and the Ministers involved signed off on the deal on 9 May and we have had either one or two e-mails since, but we have no agreement with Aramara Teoranta. We have, however, continued to obtain our supply . I have the letter from the Minister of State, Deputy Dinny McGinley, stating Údarás na Gaeltachta, amazingly, had negotiated a deal that was better for us. We have not received any reduction in price, nor have we obtained a better quality product; what, therefore, is this amazing deal? There is no timeframe for it and nothing has been put on paper. If it was very open, why have we not had sight of the documents? It is fairly simple to set out that it is an agreement, that is what concerns us. As far as I am concerned, we are on a complete tangent and have to get the harvesting licence for Clew Bay, as otherwise we will have a serious strategic problem.