Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support the proposal by Senator Black for the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to meet the civil groups and groups involved in the Irish language. It is very important they are heard and listened to. I thank the Senator for raising the subject.

I also commend her on the wards of court report by the justice committee of which my colleagues, Deputies Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin and Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, are members. It is a very important report. I urge everybody to read it and play their part in implementing the recommendations in it, particularly on the urgency to have the Comptroller and Auditor General oversee the funds. The report is very good and I congratulate the committee and everybody who was involved in putting it together. However, its success will only be measured in its implementation.

The other issue I will raise is one I have raised many times before on seaweed and seaweed cutting. We asked a couple of months ago for the Minister of State to come to the House and give us an update on the situation. It is an issue that goes back to last year and the year before when the Minister of State came into the House. When the Minister of State came into the House he said he recognised what needed to be done. We urgently need an update on what has been done and the research and engagement the Minister of State has had with the different stakeholders.

Will the Leader ask the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, to meet some of the coastal communities, particularly the Coiste Cearta Cladaigh in Connemara? They have intelligence and experience going back generations of how to manage seaweed sustainability. They have huge concerns about what might happen when licences are given without environmental impact studies being done, particularly on the mechanical cutting of seaweed. It is very important that those who cut seaweed have the freedom to sell it to whomever they like. A natural resource that belongs to the people in these communities should be used for the benefit of the communities. It should only be exploited as a public good to create enterprise and job opportunities in coastal areas. Those who have rights within their folios to the land and to seaweed cutting are also protected. I ask for the Minister to come to the House urgently to discuss this issue and also to engage with these coastal groups.