Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I would like to get the Minister of State's view on the question of proximity to the coastline for the of granting licences for activities in the marine and the protection of heritage before licences are granted. We have suggested that we should not be granting licences for certain types of industrial development, particularly industrial offshore wind but also other major industrial-style development, within what used to be called the foreshore area.

Across much of Europe, these things are only allowed considerably farther out. A paper by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy pointed out that the general distance in Germany is 53 km from shore. In Belgium, I believe the distance is approximately 37 km. There have been moves in France recently to ensure that the distance for a major offshore wind development is farther out. As far as I understand, Wales has regulations relating to distance and height, with the height of something determining how close it can be to the shore. The average distances are generally considerably farther out than some of the relevant projects which in some cases are as close as 6 km from shore. That is the thought behind amendment No. 190.

Amendment No. 191 seeks to ensure that heritage is not negatively impacted by licences of that sort.