Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would say that the Minister of State is a great man for eating spuds that have been grown with seaweed, though. Strangely enough, we previously discussed this issue, which affects many coastal areas.We have the historical situation where seaweed is owned by the State but there are traditional types of seaweed harvesting rights. Quite a number of people might have land and a folio which would give them appurtenant rights to harvest seaweed on a foreshore close to their homes for domestic use, etc. Seaweed is a wonderful resource which can be harvested and create employment in rural areas. Many traditional harvesters do this difficult manual labour regularly and use it to supplement other forms of income. It is a vital resource and asset which benefits people in rural areas.

Seaweed harvesting is an issue in Connemara which I have raised with previous Ministers on several occasions. There is a review of the foreshore licensing regime which has come on foot of several issues. The largest seaweed processing plant in Ireland, Arramara Teoranta, which was a State-owned company, was sold to a Canadian company, Acadian Seaplants. There are several other companies working in this area. There are 13 applications with the Department seeking leave to harvest more seaweed in a commercial manner. They are under consideration, pending review of the legislation in this area.

We were trying to ascertain how many people would have the legal right to harvest seaweed in their area. The Property Registration Authority, PRA, was asked to do an audit of all the folios in the State to see how many have such rights. Has the Minister of State an update on this, as it was meant to be done a long time ago? That would, in turn, affect where licences could be issued. The licences are subject to certain limitations. We know a licence was recently granted to BioAtlantis for the harvesting of seaweed in County Cork which has raised a certain amount of controversy among locals there. There can be limitations around when, where, how much and what types of seaweed can be cut.

The whole area has been up in the air for the past several years because of lack of clarity around the legislation and the licensing regime. I know it is the Government's intention to overhaul it. It is high time we had an update on when this will happen. My concern is that we want to ensure the rights of the traditional harvesters are maintained. I have suggested to them that they should band themselves together in a co-op style organisation to ensure fair trade. Collective bargaining with the different companies would also ensure the best price for their harvests. Such a set-up would be appropriate and would benefit the companies too. We need proper management plans in place in areas to ensure seaweed is harvested properly and in a sustainable manner to ensure it will grow quickly again to be there for future generations.

I look forward to the Minister of State giving us a comprehensive update on this matter.