Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Tá mé an-bhuíoch di faoi teacht isteach leis an gceist seo - ceist chonspóideach na feamainne in iarthar na hÉireann - a fhreagairt. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to answer this question, which relates to the ongoing debate around seaweed harvesting rights along the coasts of Ireland. I have raised this with the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, on previous occasions as well.

There was a lot of talk about the legal position regarding folios and whether harvesters have traditional rights, whether they have legal rights, how they can enforce those legal rights, etc. Deputy Coffey told us in the spring that he had asked the Land Registry to conduct an audit of all folios within a mile of the foreshore to assess how many folios around the island of Ireland have these rights attached. That is an important piece of work. We were told at that stage that it would be done by September and we have not heard back since. I wrote to the Property Registration Authority of Ireland, PRAI, but unfortunately it did not respond, so I felt I had no option other than to drag a Minister back to the Seanad to get clarification on this important issue.

As the Minister of State with responsibility for rural affairs, Deputy Phelan will be aware that there is a huge opportunity for us to develop seaweed harvesting around the coast. It is something that has been totally under-utilised since the foundation of the State. There was the company Arramara, which was in State ownership until recently, but its potential to develop as much as possible in the sector was probably hindered by the fact that the seaweed was being processed only to a basic level, after which the pellets were sent away for more diverse and value-added processing abroad. There is considerable potential and it is important for those coastal communities and for the seaweed harvesters that the income they can get from seaweed harvesting is maximised.

One of the concerns is that there is an attempt by the Government to corporatise the industry. We have seen a large international player, Acadian Seaplants, come into the market and take over Arramara Teoranta. We do not have an issue with a company coming in, but we do have concerns about who will be given licensing rights to harvest the seaweeds. One of the pertinent issues is the need to ascertain who has rights at present and who does not.

I understand that having a right written into one's folio is not the only way of asserting one's right to harvest seaweed, but it is an important one. Apparently, if a company applies for a licence to cut seaweed in a particular area, if somebody has a strip of seaweed harvesting in that area, the licence must exclude that strip. There are other ways in which people can assert their rights, but that is another day's work. One possible method is under the 1998 conveyancing Act, which contains articles allowing a person to assert his or her rights even if it is not included in the folio.This was a very important piece of work. I am not sure where it stands, which is why we have asked the Minister of State to clarify it. Has the work been finished? If so, can the information be made publicly available? Can we see a list of all the folios in which people have seaweed harvesting rights included? Can it be shown on a map such that we can see areas of the coastline where the rights exist, almost like a red line, and other areas in which there is a contention as to who has the rights and where licences can be issued? I welcome the Minister of State and hope she can clarify the situation.