Ms Nina Murray:

This is essentially the same question as that of Deputy Ó Broin. The purpose of the amendment is to put beyond doubt the authority and powers under the Foreshore Act that the Minister and the development sector had understood existed. As to why are we doing this now, I believe the Deputy is asking why has a doubt arisen. There was one particular applicant during the summer who raised a query in terms of the interpretation of the definition. Where there is any doubt, particularly when we have such a vast number of applications that would be calling on the Minister's authority in that respect. it was really important that we understood what that risk was and if there was a doubt, the intention here is to put it beyond doubt.

The Foreshore Act has been operating on the basis that the water column, subsoil and the airspace above have always been interpreted within the meaning of the word "foreshore" in the 1933 Act. Applicants have been applying for leases and licences on that basis and the Minister has been operating in a regulatory context on that basis.

To be clear, we are not introducing any further requirements on the development sector, on foreshore maritime users, that have not already existed in the past. A huge proportion of my day is spent looking at opportunities to streamline and expedite applications that are in hand under the Act. It is certainly not the intention of the Department or the Minister at this point to introduce any new requirements. That would include for example, any new licensing requirements around using the airspace or anything like that. We can be certain that, as Ms Graham described it, it is a technical amendment to put something beyond doubt in the interests of creating certainty for the applicants and the development sector. Its aim is to ensure that the Minister's decisions under the Act are robust and that applicants who come out with a consent will have the confidence that they can undertake their licensed activities subject to the various different conditions.