Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I wish to share time with Senator Rose Conway-Walsh.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim míle buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus leis an Aire Stáit. Is as Contae an Chláir an Aire Stáit agus beidh eolas maith aige ar an gceist atáim ag ardú maidir le cúrsaí feamainne agus an tábhacht atá le tionscnamh na feamainne in iarthar na tíre agus ó thaobh na bainteoirí aonair a bhíonn á bhaint. The Minister of State will understand this issue well because he comes from County Clare and will probably know many seaweed harvesters and how important the industry is. Even though it might be small in the national context, it is important to us in the west.It is a huge tradition going back many generations where traditional harvesters would collect the seaweed, which is obviously very hard work, and then they would sell on to processors, etc.

The Minister of State would be aware, I am sure, that a number of years ago applications were made for blanket licences for large companies which wanted foreshore licences covering huge tracts. One, in particular, covered the area from County Clare to the top of Mayo. There was serious concern at that stage about the impact that would have on the industry, the traditional harvesters and the smaller processors and their access to seaweed. The question seems to have gone dormant in the last year or so. I have raised this issue on a number of occasions with the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. We know that his Department was asking for a list of all the folios on the seashore to be made so that it could look at all those foreshore folios and see how many had pertinent seaweed harvesting rights attached to them. We also know that people can also legally maintain their right to continue cutting seaweed if they have proof of having been involved in the industry through sales to companies, etc.

The traditional harvesters have raised this matter with me once again. A review was to be done of the licensing regime. Where does that stand at the moment? Has that audit been finished? If so, can we see a published report on that audit? How many people actually have pertinent rights on their folios that would allow them to continue harvesting? How many people do not? What is the plan to implement a seaweed management programme in those areas? What is the situation in regard applications for the harvesting of seaweed? I look forward to the Minister of State's response. This is an issue in Mayo as well, so I will hand over to Senator Conway-Walsh to say a few words.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Senator has one minute and ten seconds.

Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I will do the best I can. I thank my colleague, Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, for raising this matter and I thank the Minister of State for being here. This is an issue that we have been working on in Mayo and along the coast for the last number of years. We are working on it from the point of view of first establishing the ownership of the foreshore, particularly where people have folios there. Like my colleague, I would appreciate clarity, which I think is absolutely necessary, on the current situation. People were very concerned around the sell-off of the State company and the conditions that might have been attached to that because there was not transparency around it. This is an opportunity for us to have transparency.

I will talk specifically on the benefits of seaweed. There are massive benefits for local, coastal communities. I ask the Minister of State today to instruct the local authorities along the coast, including Mayo County Council, to prioritise the production of seaweed and to conduct and support feasibility studies into what can be done with seaweed and the jobs that can be created in that area. Sinn Féin's vision for seaweed, along the western coast in particular, is that we would have many micro-industries, small cottage industries, that could be set up using our seaweed as a natural resource. We have experienced the giveaway of our other natural resources in terms of oil and gas. We are not prepared to let the natural resource of seaweed be relinquished to foreign companies which will exploit it to maximise their own profits as well.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators Ó Clochartaigh and Conway-Walsh for raising this matter. We are three Member of the Oireachtas from the west of Ireland so we are well aware of the importance of the west coast and the Wild Atlantic Way. I know a company in Quilty in County Clare which has 30 people employed in seafood products and exporting to China so it is an important issue to raise.

The role of the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government in regard to harvesting of seaweed is to regulate the activity in accordance with the Foreshore Act 1933. In carrying out this task, that Department aims to ensure that the resource is managed appropriately, with the twin aims of protecting the marine environment and allowing for a sustainable level of harvesting by both individual harvesters, including those who have harvested seaweed over generations, and also by companies.

The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government recognises the valuable and important role that seaweed harvesting plays in the environment, culture and economy of coastal communities, particularly in counties along the western coast. Seaweed harvesting has provided a source of income to traditional harvesters for generations. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, very clearly understands the concerns raised by both the sale of Arramara Teoranta by Údarás na Gaeltachta in 2014, and the applications to harvest seaweed by companies which have been received by his Department.

During the course of assessing these licence applications, it became clear that certain rights to harvest seaweed exist and the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government is in a process of assessing, with the assistance of the Attorney General, the legal interface and relationship between these traditional harvesting rights and the current applications. Accordingly, these applications by companies are effectively on hold until the Department receives definitive legal advice from the Attorney General on this matter.

This is a very complex legal issue. In trying to fully establish the implications of the interaction between these existing seaweed harvesting rights and the applications for licences by companies officials of the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government have met with the Attorney General on a number of occasions to discuss this matter.

The aim, of course, is to bring clarity to the regulatory regime applying to the harvesting of wild seaweed to all parties and especially to the question of the rights held by traditional harvesters. It is expected that this matter will be concluded by mid-2017, or earlier if possible. Officials from the Department have met with several applicants to explain the complexities of the situation to them.

I to take this opportunity to assure Senators Ó Clochartaigh and Conway-Walsh that no decisions have yet been reached on the applications currently on hold in the Department. The work is ongoing and once it is finalised my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, will give definitive clarification around the rights of traditional harvesters and make a decision on the position regarding the existing applications from companies to harvest wild seaweed.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

An bhfuil an Seanadóir sásta?

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as an bhfreagra sin. I thank the Minister of State for clarifying the timeline and that he hopes to have some kind of conclusion before mid-2017. When we look internationally there are ongoing cases, for example, in Maine in the US around the exact same issue, that is, international companies coming in and seeking harvesting rights. We know that in Canada these types of rights have been given to companies. The concerns are still here.

I note that the applicants have been given information about the complexities and have been engaged with but the individual harvesters have not. I ask, as I have asked on a number of occasions going back more than a year, if the list of folios or a map of the shore could be made available to us. Surely that was a matter for land registry, which was being done. It was an audit by the Department of all the different folios along the shore that had pertinent rights attached to them. Surely at this stage we could have that made available to us, rather than everybody seeking individual folios. It is not going to affect the outcome. It is a matter of fact that is on the record. That work has been done by the Department. Could the Minister of State make that available to us as Oireachtas Members?

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The west of Ireland is not the only place. At the moment there is a huge furore in Bantry Bay about a licence for harvesting seaweed. It is sub judiceso I will not comment further. Does the Minister of State wish to respond?

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Just briefly, a Chathaoirligh-----

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is not the line Minister.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Yes, but I will pass on Senator Ó Clochartaigh's concerns to the Minister myself. Obviously, this is a very complex issue. The Department is in the process of assessing, with the assistance of the Attorney General, the legal interface between traditional harvesting rights and the current application. That is a very complex issue. It has to be dealt with. It takes time to make sure that it has the proper information. As I said, I would hope that there will be a decision on this by mid-2017 or earlier. It is hoped that will bring a conclusion to the situation. I do not want to comment on it at the moment because it is ongoing and the Attorney General's office is dealing with it but it is something of concern, particularly to small-time producers or collectors of seaweed on the west coast. They are often small-time farmers for whom this is an auxiliary income to supplement the small income they get from farming. I would be very conscious of that.