Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank witnesses very much for their really interesting presentations. I was extremely struck by the heat aspect in that this is not simply around carbon being absorbed or not, and the very direct impact that temperature has in terms of marine life and habitat. I would be interested to see any further notes the witnesses have on that heat aspect because that is the very direct impact of climate change.

I was also very interested in the projects. The Cuan Beo project in Galway, of which Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, GMIT, and others will be aware, is similarly trying to look at Galway Bay. I want to ask about three areas.

I wanted to ask about three areas, one of which is public research. I heard a really strong call for public research and development and indeed possibly public-public partnerships. Dr. Berrow mentioned the idea of open access information - the exchange of information. Again, we are looking for the research and development to be partly State-led and public body-led and engage with communities around how we drive this so we create a context in which public-private partnerships may happen. It is about the importance of a really strong and open exchange because these same issues are happening across the world and it is important that there be a public exchange of information between states and public actors on this. Do the witnesses have any comments to make on that?

Regarding the industry-led piece not being enough and the dangers of a case-by-case approach, the witnesses described companies trying out different approaches in good faith but how ad hocthat can be. We heard from Wind Energy Ireland about how it changed what it did in terms of noise in response to community engagement but in the case of seismic activity, which is the underwater equivalent of that, we will not hear submissions from dolphins and marine life. Could the witnesses comment on that seismic issue and the importance of the precautionary principle, particularly with regards to that? It speaks to that precautionary principle. We have a situation where the planning framework exists in advance of the protected areas. What are the interim protections we put in right now for even that two or three-year period to ensure we do not do damage that is hard to reverse? Is it around using the German noise thresholds? Is it around limiting bottom trawling? Is it around the mapping of sensitive areas? Is it a very strict limitation of foreshore licences, as Mr. Kavanagh mentioned, during the period of time during which we look very carefully at foreshore development? What can we do in the next two years to ensure that huge ground has not been lost and species have not been lost?

I think Professor Franki commented very eloquently in terms of nature-based solutions and the importance of them not being simply seen as storage units. When I go to climate talks, they talk about mangrove or kelp and not those little interconnections - the ecosystem. It is about the importance of habitat versus simply nature's service so that nature-based solutions are about habitats.