Keira Keogh (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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386. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has considered the organic benefits of seaweed and the opportunities that could be created for local coastal communities such as health foods, in view of the demand for organic products in the current climate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23244/26]

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has responsibility for the licencing of aquaculture operations, including those engaging in seaweed cultivation, and as the Competent Authority under the EU Organic Regulations 2018/848, has supervision of the framework for organic certification of harvested seaweed. Consents for wild harvesting of seaweed are a matter for the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA)/ the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (DCEE).

The majority of seaweed produced in Ireland is wild harvested seaweed. The Irish cultivated seaweed sector in 2024 was valued at €495,883 and produced 496 tonnes (BIM, 2025). Currently 2 seaweed aquaculture businesses are certified as organic under the Irish Organic Association, with further seaweed producers who are harvesting wild seaweed also certified.

My Department is aware of the many uses of organic seaweed. Seaweed, as a natural resource, has been used in Ireland for hundreds of years and the market for seaweed is a global one, with consumers seeking out the product due to it’s health and nutritional value as food and as a highly valuable natural ingredient in cosmetics or pharmaceuticals.

Our National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development (NSPSA) notes that there are already a number of projects taking the first steps towards determining extraction techniques for highly valuable commercial extracts from both macro algae and micro algae. These extracts are for use, inter alia, in the human food, human medicine, animal feed and cosmetics sectors. This early innovation work continues to be taken forward and supported by the development agencies (Including but not limited to BIM, Teagasc, Enterprise Ireland, Údarás na Gaeltachta) with the knowledge generated being transferred, where possible, towards product generation and commercialisation.

Seaweed aquaculture in Ireland is in an early stage and market development will be key to its success and growth. The NSPSA sets out the vision for Ireland's aquaculture sector in the coming years, and includes specific actions in relation to the development of the seaweed aquaculture sector, recognising the potential that exists within this sector.

The government is fully committed to the implementation of the National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development 2030 (NSPSA), which provides the necessary framework to support the development of both seaweed production and opportunities to develop new products and new market opportunities for our sustainably produced organic seaweed.