Mr. Dara Lynott:

I thank the Chairman for giving us the opportunity to address the joint committee. We submitted our opening statement and supporting documentation in advance of the meeting and they are available for publication. I am joined by Dr. Karen Creed and Dr. Tara Higgins. At the end of our opening statement, we will be happy to answer questions committee members may have.

By way of background, the Environmental Protection Agency assumed responsibility on 15 February 2010 for the regulation of dumping at sea activities in accordance with the Foreshore and Dumping at Sea (Amendment) Act 2009. On assuming responsibility for dumping at sea activities, we undertook a detailed review of the existing legislation and the powers included therein. Following this review, we established a dumping at sea advisory committee under section 41 of the EPA Act of 1992 to advise the EPA on the technical and administrative implementation of its functions under the dumping at sea Act. The advisory committee meets as required and includes nominated representatives from relevant State bodies, including the Marine Institute, Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority; from industry, including the Irish Ports Association; and from the NGO sector such as the Irish environmental pillar. Committee members have expertise in fisheries, biology, ecology, chemistry, oceanography, navigation, commerce and engineering.

Copies of all of our permit applications, submissions and correspondence, inspectors' reports and permits are all publicly available and published on our website. To reduce cost and increase flexibility the EPA issues multi-annual permits that are not specific to particular vessels. This has allowed for more cost-effective planning and management of the sector. Previously, specific vessels were named; therefore, anyone wanting to use a different vessel needed a new permit. Permits were also only issued for one year.

In dealing with the body of work transferred to the EPA we have identified activities that no longer require a dumping at sea permit such as beach nourishment and have moved to tonnage-based application fees. The agency has adopted a risk-based approach to the enforcement of dumping at sea permits. The aim is to improve compliance with environmental legislation in Ireland. We have investigated and prosecuted instances of unauthorised dumping activities under the legislation. One of the issues which came to light during our initial review of the legislation was that the EPA had authority to licence only the loading and dumping of material at sea, while the authority for licensing dredging activity remained with the appropriate Minister. This issue of dual consent, whereby ports and harbours wishing to carry out maintenance dredging had to apply to two public authorities for two separate permits, was raised by the agency in submissions to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. The agency is satisfied that the proposed Bill removes that duplication and will speed up the authorisation process. In the future applicants will only have to apply for one permit, which will reduce costs.

The agency is pleased that the proposed Bill also includes a number of other amendments to the dumping at sea Acts which we consider necessary to provide legal clarity and to bring the regulatory process for dumping at sea into line with the agency’s other licensing regimes. For example, head 31 will make provision for the Minister to make regulations which will enable the technical details of the permit process to be set down in secondary legislation. It is envisaged that the regulations will set down the particulars of the permit process such as the timeframes applicable to consultations, notification of statutory consultees and judicial review and will provide for further information requests, oral hearings, a review of a permit, fees, abandoned applications and the withdrawal of applications.

It is also anticipated the regulations will contain provisions for increased public participation in the dumping at sea permit process, which is of particular importance in light of the Aarhus Convention and its requirements regarding public participation. The Bill also rectifies a number of other shortcomings in the current legislation, for example, by inserting provisions for transboundary consultation in cases where dumping at sea activities might have an impact on other member states. In terms of enforcement provisions, the EPA believes that the changes set out in the Bill will improve enforcement of dumping at sea activities and the original Act contains several ambiguities which the Bill will remove, providing not only clarity for the agency but assurances to the regulated community. The Bill provides clarification on who is authorised to enforce dumping at sea activities and provides for consistency of approach across the various enforcement bodies.

The introduction of fees for enforcement is also welcomed by the agency. To date the agency has had to absorb the cost of enforcement under the Dumping at Sea Act 1996. Previously all offences under the Dumping at Sea Act 1996 were indictable; there was no provision for summary offences. This prohibited the agency from taking legal action without the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions and required cases to be heard in the Circuit Court or higher. The agency welcome the changes indicated and these will allow the agency the option of proceeding with summary prosecutions and it brings the amended Dumping at Sea Act 1996 in line with other environmental law.

In summary, the agency welcomes the amendments to the dumping at sea legislation proposed in this Bill. The proposed amendments will end the dual consent situation that currently applies to maintenance dredging and will provide the EPA with legal clarity and enhanced powers to better manage the permitting and enforcement of dumping at sea legislation. These changes are important in the wider context of the better regulation agenda being promoted by Government. I hope I have given the committee an overview of the significance of the outline heads of the Maritime Area and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2013 from the EPA’s perspective and I am happy to answer any questions the committee members may have for me.