Ms Maria Graham:

We have done a lot of work on the concept of marine planning, which lags behind terrestrial planning, in terms of having a framework that looks at forward planning, development management and our future in that regard, and also supports the Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth policy.

In June, we published a marine planning policy statement which sets out several commitments. As Mr. Shaw stated, it was recently finalised by the Government and will be published shortly. One of the aspects of the statement is that marine planning will facilitate Ireland's transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy. That is now one of our principles of marine planning. The national marine planning framework is a way of bringing together everyone involved in the marine area to allow for the particular context in which planning happens in this area. It is largely around co-existence. It is not like land planning because there can be multiple uses in the same area. One needs a framework for that collaboration. We will publish it for consultation shortly. A baseline report was produced and a marine advisory group established. Its membership is quite diverse, with representation of energy, offshore and fishing interests, including the Killybegs Fishermens Organisation, such that we get the views of environmentalists and the tourism industry. We are getting widespread input into the many uses of our marine resources.

The next level of implementation is having a planning system that works for consent within the marine area and that is where the replacement of the current foreshore arrangement comes into play. As Mr. Shaw stated, we have been working intensively on that and have a legislative group chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach. The consents largely fall between us and the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment. In addition to giving consent for people to seek leave to undertake development activities, the anticipated regime will move the issue of consent to local authorities and An Bord Pleanála. Local authorities, particularly those in coastal areas, have very much embraced it because, as Dr. Connolly stated, the marine economy is very important for rural and coastal locations.

As Mr. Shaw pointed out, the general scheme of the Bill, to the extent that it has been developed so far, is available on the website of the Department. It is expected to undergo scrutiny at the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government in the near future. There are several policy areas we are trying to conclude in order to have a fully formed discussion at that stage. We are moving on apace with the Bill. Its development also forms part of the climate action plan referred to by Mr. Shaw, particularly in terms of facilitating offshore renewable energy industry.