Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate my colleague Deputy Bacik on being true to her commitment, at the time of the Dublin Bay South by-election, to introduce this legislation and for dealing with so many local groups. As a fellow baywatcher, I believe this legislation is particularly important for the area I represent, Dublin Bay North.

One of the communities in my constituency is grieving today as a result of the laying to rest of a four-year-old girl this morning. I wanted to acknowledge that on the floor of the House today. All of us here will do whatever we can to provide support to the family in what are absolutely heartbreaking circumstances for them and the school community, which happens to be in my constituency.

To return to the Bill, we feel strongly about Dublin and believe it deserves protection and enhancement. We feel strongly that lessons have to be learned from the various crises we have had over the years. People returned to the bay at the time of the financial crisis. When people had struggles in their lives, they began to reconnect with what was on their doorstep. They returned to the bay during the Covid crisis, when people may have been locked out of other pursuits. They turned to the bay to walk, swim and enjoy the absolutely fantastic facility of their doorstep. Then they began to realise that it may not be tended to, treated or enhanced as well as it should. At my part of the bay, Doldrum Bay, Howth, raw sewage is pumped in. That has been of major local concern in the Howth area for several years. In Clontarf, one can see the conditions in which the swimmers swim. Clontarf is an iconic part of Dublin. All the iconography and paintings associated with Clontarf are about swimming and the associated sense of enjoyment, yet the facilities are just not up to scratch. You do not have to go to Spain to see enhanced facilities; you can go to Portmarnock, in the Minister's constituency, to see how things can be done – in this case by Fingal County Council.

We must not have a mismatch of authorities, from Fingal County Council to Dublin City Council and others, overseeing this incredible facility. Therefore, the Labour Party is suggesting that we need to have a structure over Dublin Bay that will protect and enhance it. In this regard, let me repeat what Deputy Bacik said. We suggest a new statutory Dublin Bay authority. This is not a new idea. As Deputy Bacik has said, it has been advocated for many years by people from many different backgrounds and interest groups. The new authority would be tasked with the promotion of policies for the protection and enhancement of the environment of Dublin Bay and the natural habitats and wildlife in and around it. I can think of how this would enhance my constituency. Another objective would be to promote and support strategic planning and sustainable development in and around the bay and make recommendations to regulate and control pollution, which I have already mentioned, in and around Dublin Bay. In this regard, I have mentioned the Doldrum Bay issue.

This legislation should receive Government support. We do not want to hear the Minister state he is merely not opposing it or that he wants to delay the next Stage for 12 months. If we are serious about Dublin and enhancing both the public realm and citizens' life experience in Dublin, we should heed what we learned from the financial crash and Covid and what we are learning from the current cost-of-living crisis. We see people returning to natural interaction with the bay and its beauty and rediscovering it. The sad thing, however, is that they also rediscover just how poorly it has been protected over the years. I asked the Minister not only not to oppose the Bill but also to support the effort behind it and not have us wait perhaps 12 months for the next Stage.

I congratulate my colleague Deputy Bacik and all those who have been campaigning for so many years to get us to this point, where we might be at the stage of having a statutory Dublin Bay authority.

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