Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

437. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when a decision will issue in relation to a foreshore licence application (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39844/23]

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The expected time for processing and determining foreshore applications can vary considerably and is influenced by the quality of the application and supporting documents received, the nature and complexity of the application, the level of public engagement during the consultation process among other matters.

Seaweed harvesting applications are complex, particularly given the legal challenges that have arisen over the years, the existing rights of individuals, as well as the lack of significant scientific and environmental impact data on the natural resource.

Prior to the commencement of Part 5 of the Maritime Area Planning (MAP) Act 2021 and the establishment of the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority or MARA on the 17 July 2023, Section 3 of the Foreshore Act provided for the granting of a licence for the removal of or the disturbance of beach material on the Foreshore.

Beach material is defined in the Foreshore Act and includes in its definition “seaweed whether growing or rooted on the seashore or deposited or washed up thereon by the action of tides, winds, and waves or any of them”.

In considering an application for a foreshore consent, it must be verified that the particular activity complies with regulations that will safeguard the ecological integrity of the proposed site in view of the site's conservation objectives under the under Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive and also have regard to the requirements of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive. The activity must also be deemed to be in the public interest.

As previously indicated, in addition to licensed wild seaweed harvesting, there also exists the right of individuals to harvest wild seaweed, namely those who hold appurtenant rights and profit-a-prendre rights. Their rights to harvest wild seaweed may be related to a property known as a folio or appurtenant right or built up through harvesting from the same area over a period of time known as a profit-a-prendre rights. The process of registering seaweed harvesting rights on a property folio is matter for the Property Registration Authority of Ireland.

Advice provided by the Attorney General’s Office in 2018 to my Department was that these rights were to be respected. Therefore, where these rights apply, a licence under the 1933 Foreshore Act is not required by the holder of that right in order to harvest seaweed, nor can any other entity be licenced under the Foreshore Act to harvest seaweed in an area where existing formal or informal rights to harvest seaweed already exist.

Ireland's National Marine Planning Framework commits to supporting the sustainable harvesting of seaweed, having regard to the important economic and social contribution it makes to coastal communities. However, it is agreed that there is currently a need for enhanced policy development in this area at a time when the sector is attempting to capitalise on the growing uses for seaweed and its by-products emerging across a number of industries.

The Marine Institute contracted a Socio-Economic Study of Seaweed Harvesting in Ireland with a view to promoting the sustainable development of our marine resources; safeguarding our marine environment through research and environmental monitoring and realising the economic potential of Ireland’s 220 million acre marine resource. My Department is currently considering the findings of this study and its role in supporting the development of wide ranging national policy for this sector.

Any application that has been received under the Foreshore Act prior to the 17 July 2023 will continue to be processed by the Foreshore Unit of my Department. However, applicants who wish to transition from the Foreshore Consenting System to the new regulatory regime under MARA may do so by formally withdrawing their application from the Foreshore Unit and applying to MARA.

MARA is inviting potential new applicants or applicants who wish to transition from the Foreshore Consenting System, to partake in a non–statutory, pre-application meeting before a formal application is submitted to them in order to minimise delays and ensure that all relevant information is available to them. This pre-application meeting with MARA may also take place prior to formally withdrawing an application from the foreshore consenting process.