Mr. Niall Goodwin:

I will be very brief. I thank the Chair for the invitation to participate and thank Deputy Ó Broin and all other members who participated in the discussion today. As Ms Uí Bhroin said, this was a constructive discussion. It is fair to say we probably agree on more than we disagree on on this side of the table, which is always a good sign. I would echo what a lot of other speakers have said already. The overarching goal we have is the 30% designation of MPAs by 2030. It is a target that is achievable but this is the Bill that needs to achieve it and we need to make sure we get it right. We have given some recommendations as to how we can make different changes and tweaks that could do that. We will certainly come back to the request by Senator Boyhan and Deputy Ó Broin to provide more detailed suggestions in writing. That is a good suggestion that is welcome.

Regarding that point on coexistence that we spoke about, we will supply the MaREI report and a couple of other examples just so members are familiar with it. There is experience of this in other jurisdictions when it is done properly and correctly. That is what we should try to replicate here. Ultimately, climate change and rising CO2 levels are the big challenge to biodiversity and that is what we should keep as the overarching goal. We need to deliver on our climate action plan targets, which we all agree on. There is no debate on that.

I completely agree with the point that was made about the funding and support of NGOs. We are a reasonably resourced industry association and even we struggle to respond to everything we need to respond to. Giving that public support to NGOs to enable them to always be part of that discussion is crucial and I totally support that. I again thank the members. I am looking forward to the next stages of the progression of this Bill.