Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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266. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the regulatory position in regard to seaweed harvesting; and the role of his Department in regulating the activity in accordance with the Foreshore Act 1933. [10814/18]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Under the Foreshore Act 1933, as amended, the removal of “beach material” is prohibited from any area within the foreshore. The Act includes a clear definition for “beach material” and it is defined as sand and gravel and other materials, which the definition indicates includes "seaweed whether growing or rooted on the seashore or deposited or washed up thereon by the actions of tides, winds, and waves or any of them”.

Individuals or companies who do not have a right to harvest and are seeking to acquire (harvest) wild algae resources must first obtain a foreshore consent (licence) under the Foreshore Act.  A number of such applications were received by my  Department and in the course of assessing these licence applications, it has become clear that certain rights to harvest wild seaweed exist.

In this regard, my Department has engaged with the Property Registration Authority (PRA) to attempt to establish the extent of these existing appurtenant rights specified in Land Registry folios to harvest wild seaweed. On foot of this engagement, the PRA has provided my Department with data detailing the extent of the rights in seven of the western seaboard counties, namely Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Galway, Mayo and Donegal.

My Department has also met with the Attorney General's Office on several occasions to examine the implications of the interaction between the existing seaweed harvesting rights and the applications for licences by companies.  My Department is continuing to work on this complex legal issue and hopes to have made substantial progress in this regard in the second quarter of this year.