Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming before us this afternoon. I have a number of questions in respect of the foreshore. Is it correct that the distance of 12 nautical miles from the foreshore will be retained? In respect of the exclusive economic zone, to which Ms O'Donoghue referred, where will that be in relation to the foreshore? How will we identify where it will be? Will it be continuous around the country or will it be in pockets? The Aarhus Convention was mentioned earlier. Has the Department put in place a mechanism for the public to make contributions on anything effectively under that convention? If that is the case, where can we get information on it? We also learned earlier about the fact that approximately 500 aquaculture licences exist that have not been renewed, so companies are operating but are effectively unregulated. Is the Department responsible for this area? Is the Department actively concerned about it? Does Ms O'Donoghue see that as a result of this an opportunity has been lost? Is she aware of how this occurred?