Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The establishment will be as soon as possible after the enactment of the Bill - ideally within a period of 12 months. We know the importance of this new groundbreaking reform in terms of enforcement and adjudicating on the consent process. It is a new transparent regime. Across government we have to negotiate the staffing and budget, which will all be part of the budgetary process. We are very clear about the magnitude and scale of the work MARA will have to do. I listened to the Taoiseach launch the marine planning framework at the Commissioners of Irish Lights headquarters, where he very clearly committed to ensuring that MARA will have the resources to deal with the complexities of the issues before it, and that the huge scale of expertise that is required would be provided for. We want the best regime possible that will determine the future processes and consents for the entire maritime area.