Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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226. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the criteria for sanctioning a ten year licence to a company for the purposes of kelp harvesting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22931/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Individuals or companies seeking to harvest wild seaweed from the foreshore require a foreshore licence unless they have a right to do so. This legislative requirement to hold a foreshore licence for seaweed harvesting has existed since the enactment of the Foreshore Act in 1933. All applications are assessed in accordance with the provisions of the Act and any environmental legislation in force at the given time.

The licence in question is of a trial nature and granted for a period of ten years, commencing on 21 March 2014. It allows for the mechanical harvest of kelp species, Laminaria digitata and Laminaria hyperborean within five specified zones, but with only one zone to be harvested in any one year. The planned rotation is four years. The fifth zone is a stand by zone in case weather prevents access to a zone in any particular year. The stand by zone is almost 100 hectares, reducing the overall area for harvest to a maximum of some 650 hectares.

The licence is subject to strict monitoring and control, provided for in the specific conditions attaching to the legally binding agreement of both parties. The agreed monitoring programme is available to view on my Department's website at the following link: .

In addition, the licensee is required to submit an annual report of harvesting activities to include the area and quantities harvested and the measured regeneration rates of the seaweed.