Mr. John O'Sullivan:

I will be as brief as possible. I have no objection to co-operatives. If we were operating in Clew Bay we would be in a group of harvesters because we would not be able to train them individually in terms of explaining what has to be done and managing which islands should be harvested and the times of the year when they should be left alone because of the seals, etc. I have no objection if they want to come together to bargain collectively and to work as a group to get the best deal. It is an onerous task to apply for a licence and if a co-operative wants to do this work, it is not an issue for me.

In regard to smaller harvesters, all I can do is speak about our own area. We will be picking the people who are genuinely interested and want to build a livelihood. The total resource that can be harvested in Clew Bay is approximately 12,000 tonnes annually. We have made an application for 12,500 tonnes, which is much lower. We are only harvesting 20% of the resource every year over a five year cycle. We will not be over harvesting by any means.

In regard to my experience in seaweed harvesting, I have been involved in the seaweed industry since 1998. For better or for worse, I know seaweed. I have also harvested because I put it into the boot of my car and brought it home. In 2004, when Ireland was booming, I had to carry laminaria from the beach to my car and transport it for extraction. I have been involved with every aspect of the seaweed industry. I have been out at 2 a.m. when things went wrong and we were battling to recover. One might ask what madness was I involved with at a time when Ireland was booming. I am a chartered accountant and was operations manager of a division of Kerry Group that was worth €150 million. I had plenty of options but I know how to harvest seaweed and how far from the resource to cut it. I know that one will get away with cutting it from four inches.