Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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238. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the assistance being put in place for persons who are harvesting seaweed using traditional methods who wish to apply for a seaweed harvesting licence given that the window to register traditional seaweed harvesting rights on folios is drawing to a close (details supplied); if he plans to offer assistance with the environmental screening and assessments which are required as part of the licence application; the way he will ensure that the rights of tradional harvesters are respected and that seaweed harvesting process remains accessible to persons from the local community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45846/21]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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In his speech at the Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth Summit in 2018, the then Minister with responsibility for the 1933 Foreshore Act, Minister Damien English T.D. clarified that certain rights, of both a formal and informal nature, to harvest seaweed exist and must be respected in the context of determination of applications to hand harvest seaweed under the 1933 Foreshore Act.

The legal registration of such informal rights, such as those that might be held by traditional seaweed harvesters, is a matter for the Property Registration Authority of Ireland (PRAI) and those wishing to register their rights should engage directly with them. Accordingly, my Department has no role in that process.

If a claim is being made for registration of a prescriptive right, section 38 of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 (as amended by the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011) applies. A claim can be established up until 30 November 2021. The current position is that a claimant may not make an application under the law that applied prior to the introduction of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 after 30 November 2021. From 1 December 2021, any application would have to be made under the provisions set out in the 2009 Act itself. However, section 33(b)(ii) of the 2009 Act provides for a 60-year limitation period in respect of claims of prescriptive rights to take seaweed.

My Department will adjust its Seaweed Foreshore Licensing processes and procedures if needed, to reflect any future changes made to the Land and Conveyancing Acts which fall within the remit of the Department of Justice.

Details on the background and future plans related to Seaweed Harvesting are set out in Chapter 20 of the National Marine Planning Framework and can be viewed at the link below:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/60e57-national-marine-planning-framework/