Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

We want to leave that open. We want to ensure that the legislation gives effect to allowing the public to have a say in how we do this. We do not see marine protected areas as lines on maps. Absolutely, there are designations there for birds under special protection areas. We have moved to increase that from 2% to 8%, and we will be moving towards 10% this year. Critically important for marine protected areas is that they need to be places that recognise cultural and other values that are there. We are not saying that no activity can take place in them, but what we are trying to do is ensure we are protecting features and specific species within marine protected areas, and activities can still take place. The 10% element of it, which I know Fair Seas and others have been looking for, is something that will emerge out of a public participation process once the legislation is enacted.

I agree with the Senator on the potential for blue carbon and these habitats. We are absolutely conscious of that. On the features we talked about - and seagrass is another - we are very much mindful of the value that they have in the context of the ecosystem services they provide. On the carbon capture, storage and resilience element, we are ensuring that we are going to include the measurement of that, and how we support that within the marine protected areas.