Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It will be me. I am here in the Leinster House 2000 building. I thank Mr. McCabe and all of the team for joining us at the Oireachtas joint committee today. The national marine planning framework is very important. I congratulate all of the witnesses on their work over these three and a half years. In some respects, this is only the start, but still I say "well done". It is of great importance that we set out the strategic planning objectives for all of the economic and environmental activities in our marine territory. When one considers how large our marine territory is - it is one of the largest in Europe and seven times our land mass - one sees that it is imperative that this marine framework be robust, sustainable and very comprehensive, which it is, as the Chairman has already said.

I acknowledge, and we all appreciate, the significant public consultation in which the Department engaged. Obviously there is work to be done in getting the framework through the two Houses of the Oireachtas but, assuming the Department's success will continue in that respect, will the Department's representatives speak to how the implementation of the national marine planning framework will be monitored and how compliance will be measured and reported?