Mr. Richard Cronin:

The Deputy also raised a point about enforcement. Regarding the role of the Naval Service, we are aware of the constraints it has. We have talked at length with colleagues in the Department of Defence about what to do in this situation and we do not have another alternative. There is a clear distinction between the role of the Naval Service acting as an agent of the State in this instance and prosecution, which takes place in a different way. In our view, there will be other ways of enforcing or ensuring the conservation objectives are upheld or, in other words, ensuring we improve the environment. Closer to shore, I refer to the involvement of society in marshalling this undertaking so that it becomes part of the social value structure. This is much more important than a police force at sea. Further out at sea, where we have discrete activities, we already have functions in place, whether this concerns fisheries patrol and enforcement or other activities.

The role of the Marine Institute was also raised by the Deputy. It does not have an enforcement function at all. The Deputy is right, however, to identify that the institute has a role in terms of scientific information and the gathering of data. The Department already has a service level agreement in place with the Marine Institute since 2019. Certainly, we are looking at reviewing it to allow us to see what role that institution may play in future in respect of warehousing of information, gathering of information and providing scientific advice and assessment. I refer to the sort of services we already get from the Marine Institute.

The next query from the Deputy concerned acoustic monitoring. We already have a monitoring programme for human-made noise in the sea, both impulsive noise and lower frequency noise caused by shipping. We collate that noise monitoring information with all the other countries in the north-east Atlantic. This system is already in place. I think the Deputy then mentioned some specific types of creatures, like cetaceans or mammals and carbon rich habitats-----