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Seaweed Harvesting Potential

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 May 2020

Wednesday, 13 May 2020

Ceisteanna (1265, 1266, 1273, 1275, 1276, 1277, 1278)

Éamon Ó Cuív

Ceist:

1265. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the progress made to date in developing proposals to amend the Foreshore Acts as they relate to seaweed harvesting to protect the small traditional seaweed harvesters around the coast and to ensure protection of the environment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4642/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Éamon Ó Cuív

Ceist:

1266. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of seaweed harvesting licences granted in the past five years; the tonnage involved; the average length of each licence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4643/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Catherine Connolly

Ceist:

1273. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the detail of engagements between his Department and the Property Registration Authority in respect of the registration of seaweed harvesting rights from January 2018 to date in 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4717/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Catherine Connolly

Ceist:

1275. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number and details of all pending commercial or non-commercial seaweed harvesting licences; the number and detail of all licences granted in 2018 and 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4754/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Catherine Connolly

Ceist:

1276. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the status of the baseline study in terms of the extent of seaweed growing on coastal regions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4755/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Catherine Connolly

Ceist:

1277. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the guidance issued to assist potential applicants for wild seaweed harvesting licences to enable them to carry out an extensive and robust consultation, including folio searches, regarding their application as required by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4756/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Catherine Connolly

Ceist:

1278. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the status of the development and publication of a national strategy to promote the development of the seaweed sector here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4757/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1265, 1266, 1273, and 1275 to 1278, inclusive, together.

In my speech at the Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth Summit in 2018, I clarified that certain rights, of both a formal and informal nature, to harvest seaweed exist and will be respected in the context of the determination of applications to hand harvest seaweed under the 1933 Foreshore Act. The registration of such rights is a matter for the Property Registration Authority of Ireland (PRAI) and those wishing to register their rights should engage directly with the PRAI. In the context of the potential interaction between existing rights and foreshore licence applications to harvest wild seaweed, my Department has engaged on a number of occasions with the PRAI to ensure a common understanding of the issues involved.

All foreshore licence applicants are required to engage in a pre-application consultation with my Department. At that stage, the requirements around public consultation and all other aspects of the application process are explained. In addition, applicants in the course of their application, have ongoing contact with my Department, through which clarification is provided on any issues arising in relation to searches for formal and informal rights.

Following clarification of the legal position, all applicants have been made aware of my Department’s position on the interaction between existing rights and foreshore licence applications to hand harvest seaweed. Applicants are required to engage in a very thorough process of researching where existing rights to harvest seaweed might exist.

No licence applications to harvest wild seaweed have been determined by my Department in the last five years. All applications for foreshore leases or licences including those to harvest wild seaweed, when deemed complete, are published on my Department’s website.

During the consultation on the National Marine Planning Framework that concluded recently, it was suggested that a forum on seaweed be established and I will consider this suggestion. Currently, my responsibilities regarding seaweed are limited to the provisions of the 1933 Foreshore Act that do not include either the promotion or economic development of the sector.

As I outlined during a debate on Sustainable Seaweed Harvesting during Dail Private Members' time on 7 March 2018, any regulatory regime cannot focus solely on the sector from one viewpoint. We must take into account the interests of a multiplicity of stakeholders, balancing the existing rights of traditional harvesters with commercial potential, while also ensuring sustainability of the resource and compliance with the State's obligations under domestic and EU environmental law.

Finally, in relation to the biomass of the wild seaweed resource, funding was secured under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) for two seaweed related projects. The first project is focused on seaweed biomass assessments and the other on the socio economic importance of seaweed. The Marine Institute are presently finalising the terms of reference of both projects.

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