Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies Connolly and Pringle for the opportunity to discuss this matter. I agree with Deputies Ó Cuív and Murphy O'Mahony regarding the beauty of all of the constituencies on the western seaboard. If beauty equalled licensing and resources for those constituencies, we probably would not have to have this debate. Sadly, however, it does not.

When I think about how we dealt with hydrocarbon legislation decades ago, it appears to me that we have learned nothing. I respect the Minister of State's comment to the effect that no decisions have yet been made in respect of the 17 licences concerned but I wonder if, to use his words, we are going through this complex legal process with the company in mind or with the communities in mind. In the context of Project Ireland 2040, and all that it is alleged it will do for rural Ireland and the coastal communities that have been substantially wiped out over the years with the demise of the salmon industry, in the first instance, and the many other industries to which Deputy Ó Cuív alluded, there is an opportunity here for an industry which essentially dates back to the 1930s and 1940s but which is re-emerging in that 30% of the value of the harvesting comes from only 1% of the activity in terms of the production of cosmetics, high-value products, organic foods, therapies and so on. The very core of the Minister's deliberations must be around supporting rural communities and giving the benefit to Irish people in Cork, Sligo, the Gaeltacht, Donegal, Clare and all of the other counties on the western seaboard. This ought to be the priority. The company concerned, Acadian, is very good at what is does and good luck to it. Like Deputy Ó Cuív, I would prefer to have 50 Acadians operating on the western seaboard and supporting local communities and rejuvenating the fishing villages which, in the 1970s, were so vibrant but which are now sparsely populated with a few leisure craft. This is such an opportunity. I hope the Minister of State will take on board Deputy Ó Cuív 's advice to establish a public consultation phase with terms of reference that prioritise how best we can support every coastal community from Malin Head to Bantry and anywhere else where these opportunities are afforded. We should not be focused on what is the most modern, the biggest or the best at converting tradition into bottom line. Rather, we should focus on prioritising the value of community over cost and bottom lines.

In Sligo, the Walton family, who are among the pioneers in this area in Ireland, produces the high-value VOYA therapy products, which I am told are used in the top spas and hotels and on the best cruise ships around the world. These therapies are made from seaweed derived from the western seaboard of Ireland. That is just one shining example of what can be achieved. Surely we can replicate this in rebuilding and supporting the coastal communities that have been neglected by so many Governments over the past 40 years. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to give the Minister of State the credit for turning this ship around. As matters stand, I fear we are headed towards making the same mistakes made when we were legislating for hydrocarbons in the 1970s.

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