Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is the bane of our lives in this committee but that is another day's craic. To go back to the timelines, Professor Crowe's description of them is helpful in terms of the recommendations for the designations and the evidence base and science within a year. Realistically speaking, we are looking at two to three years plus, in terms of the designation, especially if some prove controversial to the stakeholders. Given that we are going to have significant advances in terms of the consents that have already been provided and all 20 of the planning applications for offshore wind are going to be on the east coast in the first place, is there a strong argument or is it Professor Crowe's understanding that the designation process will deal with those areas where there could be the greatest changes, for example, because of large-scale offshore wind? Does he think that is something we should be aspiring to do so that we try to make sure we get into either those areas that need the greatest level of protection, that have the greatest level of biodiversity loss to date or that could be at risk because of changes elsewhere in the economy and critical infrastructure the Government is pursuing through other strategies, some of which are centrally related to climate change as well?