Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for their attendance and submissions. This is hugely important and long overdue legislation, so we want to get our work done as expeditiously as possible. Like our guests, we want to move on to having some robust and comprehensive legislation to protect Ireland’s marine areas, which are among the largest. It is not just about protecting it; as was said, it is about restoring, protecting and ensuring that it is properly and sustainably managed into the future for biodiversity issues and climate action, but also our energy security. We all get it. The guests clearly welcome the legislation. We also sense the urgency that they want us to take.

I wish to clarify one basic housekeeping matter. Is the Irish Environmental Network’s engagement with the Department just in this forum or is it outside of it as well? There is constructive criticism within its statement. Has IEN engaged outside this forum directly with the Department and how does that work? Has it made submissions to the Department?