The failure by State agency Údaras na Gaeltachta to disclose the price and terms of the sale of seaweed company Arramara Teo to Canadians has been criticised by former Gaeltacht minister Éamon Ó Cuív.
As The Sunday Independent reports, Údaras na Gaeltachta has said it cannot publish any details of the contract, even though the ten years of a confidentiality agreement have expired.
The Canadian owners are separately stating that the confidentiality agreement was indefinite, and was never limited to ten years.
Irish language news website tuairisc.ie has published minutes of an Údarás board meeting which refer to “a confidentiality clause in the agreement which lasted for the duration of the agreement, up to 10 years”.
Údarás na Gaeltachta told The Sunday Independent that “the Information Commissioner has made a decision regarding this matter and determined that it involves sensitive commercial information”.
“As a clear decision has been made on this matter by the Information Commissioner, no one will be available to speak on behalf of the Údarás regarding this subject,” a spokesman said.
Mr Ó Cuív said that this was “unsatisfactory”, and he had submitted a number of questions to the Dáíl to try to find out more.
The seaweed company Arramara Teo was transferred out of State ownership to Canadian company Acadian Seaplants in 2014.
“I would like to see the full terms and conditions - including guarantees that the Canadian owner would stay and not close the place up when it is providing employment in coastal Gaeltacht areas,” Ó Cuív said.
The sale of Arramara Teoranta, founded in 1947, took place at a time when seaweed was identified as a major global growth industry.
Read The Sunday Independent here
