Ms Attracta U? Bhroin:

To add to that, and Mr. Fogarty has articulated the dilemma, we want this to work and it is in everybody's interest for it to work. It is going to help us and it is our best ally, as Ms Loughran said earlier, with regard to climate. We want certainty with regard to offshore renewable energy, not just because of the decarbonisation but because of the potential economic benefits to the State. We do not live in la-la land and we understand the economic imperatives, the energy security imperatives and all of these different types of things that are realities, including the challenge for people in regard to charges for their energy and all of these different types of considerations.

The fundamental of being able to hold people to account is not just the legislative framework and backbone and the issue of providing for access to justice; it is a lack of clarity in regard to the multiple policy architecture that is now emerging, even exploding, in the marine environment. We were all mesmerised when we were going through the Maritime Area Planning Act, with its marine planning policy statements, ministerial guidelines and ministerial directions. However, how does this relate to marine strategy arising under the MSFD, separately? There needs to be some sort of coherent visual graphic so we can understand this hierarchy and how these fit together, quite apart from all of the different bodies. It is a nightmare when it comes to enforcement, as has been well acknowledged, but, particularly where there is a terrestrial component, who are we going to call? It is certainly not as clear as “Ghostbusters”. Who do we hold to account? Do the authorities even understand this clearly from this legislation? Even the intent of the architecture that this is trying to deliver is not clear. I find it very concerning that the heads of Bill are not clear about the fundamental shape of what we are trying to deliver at a policy level, at a legal level and in terms of the bodies involved in it, and how it relates not just to other marine legislation but also to things like the aquaculture legislation.

We have huge issues in aquaculture. We have effectively an unregulated environment in aquaculture at the moment. If someone applies for a licence under section 19A of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997, he or she can continue to operate until the Minister grants or does not grant the renewal. That application can sit around not just for a couple of months but for years, and we have seen applications that have been effectively sitting on a Minister’s desk for seven, eight or nine years. Even in the context of bay assessments and the integration of this legislation with other legislation, there are huge gaps - I know I may be getting into a lot of detail. There is also the issue of how consents work in other sectors and how they need to be reflected in terms of the considerations that now need to be visited in terms of MPA obligations.