Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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537. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his estimate is of the potential value of the seaweed industry here in view of the fact that it is currently estimated to be worth €18 million per annum; his views on the potential number of employees that the industry could support, in view of the fact that the industry currently employs 1,853 persons; if both the revenue generated by the industry and the employment provided by it will increase with the entry of Canadian Acadian Seaplants into the seaweed sector here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31488/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department has responsibility for the licensing of seaweed cultivation which at present operates on a very small scale. Most seaweed processing comes from the harvesting of wild seaweed, the licensing of which is the responsibility of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

My Department has asked Bord Iascaigh Mhara to prepare an information note on the market generally for seaweed production and I will be glad to forward this to the Deputy as soon as it is received.