Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:

“notes that:— seaweed, as a natural resource, has been used in Ireland for hundreds of years and is closely linked with all counties along the western seaboard and particularly in Gaeltacht areas;

— the main type of seaweed harvested along the western seaboard is Ascophyllum nodosum;

— seaweed harvesting is a traditional occupation in many coastal areas and is one of a number of income sources for communities;

— the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht’s Report on Developing the Seaweed Industry in Ireland from May 2015, recommends the adoption of a national strategy to promote the development of the seaweed industry, focusing particularly on the Gaeltacht and the counties of the western seaboard;

— approximately 40,000 tonnes of seaweed is harvested in Ireland each year, with over 95 per cent naturally grown;

— the harvesting of seaweed continues to be mainly carried out manually and remains a sustainable use of the natural resource; and

— seaweed is used for predominantly high-volume, low-value products such as animal feeds, plant supplements, specialist fertilisers and agricultural products, but significant quantities are also used in the production of higher value products such as animal probiotics, high-value fertilisers, cosmetics and therapies, which increasingly contribute positively to the industry’s overall value;

recognises:

— the role that all harvesters of seaweed, either as a traditional harvester or a company, have in the protection of this valuable resource through the use of sustainable harvesting techniques;

— the work of the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Damien English TD, in bringing legal clarity to issues regarding the interface between applications by companies to harvest seaweed and the rights of traditional harvesters;

— the important role of sustainable harvesting in maintaining ecosystems in bays and coastal marine locations;

— the ongoing work to advance the Maritime Area and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill to reform and update the existing foreshore legislation;

— the significant potential economic return for rural, coastal and island communities from sustainable development of the seaweed sector which can be achieved through the application of research and development, especially in the emerging bio-stimulant industry;

— the application of production processes which enable the retention of the nutrients of seaweed and allow their application into various high-value products;

— the potential for sustainable and high-value job creation in all aspects of the seaweed industry including research and development, production and sales and marketing across global markets and the impact of this employment for maintaining and stimulating the economy of coastal rural communities;

— that an analysis carried out by National University of Ireland Galway in 2014 estimated that, at that time, the value of the sector to be approximately €18 million per annum, €6 million of which goes on exports; and

— the potential for seaweed, as a highly valuable natural resource ingredient in biostimulant, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and organic food; and

reaffirms that the Government will:

— through the Marine Co-ordination Group, continue to advance and promote the sustainable development of the seaweed sector in Ireland;

— continue the ongoing work to advance the Maritime Area and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill to modernise the existing foreshore legislation; and

— finalise, as quickly as possible, its work to bring legal clarity to issues regarding the interface between applications for the harvesting of wild seaweed by companies and the rights of traditional harvesters and, in the interim, such applications will remain on hold.”

I thank Deputies Connolly and Pringle for bringing this Private Members' motion before the House today. While it is a motion that I cannot fully support, I think it is an opportune time to have a debate on this issue and I very much welcome this opportunity to listen to Members' views on this subject. In particular, I am anxious to hear the Deputies' concerns regarding issues around traditional seaweed harvesting, the importance of which is one of the central messages in the motion we will debate today. Both the Deputies' motion and the Government's amendment recognise the importance of the traditional harvesters and their rights.

At the outset of this debate, I wish to reiterate, as I have on a number of occasions in this Chamber, my concern regarding issues relating to traditional seaweed harvesters. It was for this specific reason that my Department placed on hold the applications we have received from various companies seeking to harvest seaweed, until my Department has an opportunity to thoroughly research and clarify all of the legal issues involved. Indeed, the 2015 report by the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht highlights clarity around this issue as key to enhancing the potential of the sector. Again, we recognise that report and want to develop a business case for the sector. We totally and utterly agree with that.

It is important to note the Government has set out its policy by which Ireland's marine potential can be realised in our integrated marine plan, Harnessing our Ocean Wealth, HOOW. The plan has three high-level goals of equal importance, namely, a thriving maritime economy, healthy ecosystems and engagement with the sea. Within this plan there are eight enablers to support the goals, covering such areas as governance, "clean - green - marine" and research, knowledge technology and innovation. Within the eight enabler areas are 39 further issues for action.

In the area of seaweed, it is important that I clearly set out my responsibilities as a Minister of State. Under the Foreshore Act 1933, I have responsibility for regulating activities and development within the foreshore area. The foreshore area stretches from the high-water mark out to a distance of 12 nautical miles. That is a total area of approximately 39,000 sq. km. This area is considered State property under the State Property Acts. The Foreshore Act controls development within this area, and the Government is approached by individuals, companies and organisations pursuant to this legislation seeking consent for developments such as marinas, slipways, coastal protection measures and port development. Consent is also sought for activities including one-day events such as horse racing, sand or gravel removal and the harvesting of seaweed.

I do not have responsibility for the regulation or development of any industry that utilises the foreshore space, although I can insert specific clauses in foreshore leases. It should also be noted that contrary to some who argue otherwise, I do not have the means under the legislation to sell any area of the foreshore or to sell seaweed rights. I must be very clear on that. A comparison with fisheries or gas has been made. However, I have no rights or responsibilities as Minister of State to sell seaweed rights.

Consent to applications under the Foreshore Act is given by way of a lease to confer exclusive use, generally for long-term semi-permanent or permanent development, or a licence for non-exclusive use. The latter generally consists of shorter-term, non-permanent activities such as one-day events, telecommunications cables or seaweed harvesting. During the period of the lease, the area remains the property of the State, with the lessee paying rent to the State.

The role of my Department in respect of the harvesting of wild seaweed is to regulate the activity in accordance with the Foreshore Act. In carrying out this task, there is a need to ensure that the resource is suitably managed, with the twin aims of protecting the marine environment and allowing for a sustainable level of harvesting. The word "sustainable" is key for all of us here. That is what the Deputies are about and what the Government is concerned with. That is why there is a lot of common ground in our motions and amendments. While it is not directly relevant to the issues of traditional seaweed harvesters, I am aware that a delegation from west Cork is making its views known today outside the House. I understand that some of them are also in the Visitors Gallery. My officials have met the group. I was not able to attend on the date of that meeting, but I look forward to meeting members of that group in due course.

It is disappointing that an "Eco Eye" programme took a very one-sided view of the issue of the licence in Bantry Bay, which was granted by the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Mr. John Gormley, in 2011. Accordingly, I welcome the recent ruling by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland on the complaint it received regarding this programme. The ruling acknowledged "that the programme did not include a range of perspective on the topic sufficient to meet the requirements of fairness, objectivity and impartiality, in a context where it was evident that there were other views, including the views of the complainant."

While I appreciate that this group and many others have a number of concerns regarding the licence, it is disappointing that the programme did not mention the baseline study and monitoring programme that were specifically included by my Department in the terms of the licence to underpin the sustainability of the resource.

I recognise the area in question. There is a licence grant for some 750 ha out of 20,000 ha and we are trying to manage it sustainably. It is a kind of monitoring test case but we are doing this as best as we possibly can, in a very careful way and with an extremely positive eye to sustainability of the seaweed sector. That is not recognised in the motion. All I am asking in the Government amendment is for Deputies to understand that I have to balance all the various rights, whereas the motion is too focused on one way.

Seaweed represents a valuable natural resource that, if sustainably harvested, can maintain and stimulate further economic development in coastal rural areas, as we all recognise. While this has always been the historical position of seaweed in Ireland, in order to contribute positively to economic growth we have moved from a position of using seaweed mainly for food, as fertilizer and as an animal foodstuff to a position where we have enhanced applications and uses for seaweed. Seaweed is now the raw material in cutting edge biopharma products such as animal probiotics and anti-coagulants in blood products. There are Irish companies using seaweed or seaweed-derived products in biopharma and other areas such as body care, cosmetic products and artisan foods. It is a lot more than the 1% that was mentioned here today and it has massive potential.

To maximise the economic potential of this valuable resource, these are the sectors that we must look to support. If we wish to encourage further high value growth and to provide more jobs at all levels, including high quality jobs at both graduate and PhD level in the areas of research and development, technology and advanced production process and sales and marketing, then investment is needed. Companies based in Ireland such as Oilean Glas Teoranta, Bioatlantis, and Brandon Bioscience have made significant investments in these areas and are already producing high value products that compete in global markets. As recently as last week, I met people who are now in high-end, quality jobs in the research sector. They are from local communities in Galway and Mayo and they are involved in this sector, rightly so. It is more of that we want to see.

I confirm that my Department is currently in receipt of 17 applications for licences under the Foreshore Act to harvest wild seaweed, 13 of which are from the companies that wish to harvest and process seaweed. The applicants produce products that range from artisan food products to animal health products to high grade fertiliser. While assessing these applications, we discovered that certain rights to harvest seaweed exist in coastal communities, particularly along the western seaboard, in the same geographical area the companies had applied for. To learn more about the extent and nature of existing rights to harvest seaweed, my Department engaged with the Property Registration Authority of Ireland, PRAI, to determine the number of appurtenant rights specified in Land Registry folios. On foot of this request, the PRAI provided my Department with aggregate data detailing the extent of the rights in seven of the western seaboard counties: Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Galway, Mayo and Donegal. The data showed there were approximately 6,500 rights relating to seaweed spread across those seven counties. However, while there is not a definitive number of those engaged in traditional harvesting of seaweed, the estimates are that somewhere between 250 and 400 of these rights are currently being exercised.

My Department has also undertaken work to establish the implications of the interaction between these existing seaweed harvesting rights and the applications for licences by companies, and my officials have met with the Attorney General's office on a number of occasions in the past couple of years to examine these issues. Once this work is complete, it is my aim to bring clarity to the regulatory regime applying to wild seaweed harvesting, seeking to balance the existing rights of traditional harvesters and commercial potential, while also ensuring sustainability of the resource and compliance with the State's obligations under domestic and EU environmental law. I want to be clear that this is to get the balance right and to recognise the importance of the traditional harvester. No decisions have been made and all applications are on hold until we complete the work on this. I am very happy to work with any Deputy and to discuss this further away from the Chamber, and I will be meeting with different groups in the weeks ahead. There is an open invitation because we in the Department want to get this right, and I can give that guarantee.

The Government cannot support a motion that looks to focus on the issue of seaweed or the development of the seaweed industry while only concentrating on a single viewpoint - that of the traditional seaweed harvester. Any regulatory regime must take into account the interests of a multiplicity of stakeholders, which is what we are trying to do. The Private Members' motion from Deputies Connolly and Pringle does not reflect the symbiotic relationship between traditional harvesters and companies. Quite simply, in my view and that of the Department, both entities need each other, as Deputy Pringle himself agreed to some extent. One supplies the other and helps pay the bills as well.

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