Professor Tasman Crowe:

I would bring that back to the MPA process. That is going to be a substantial vehicle for developing appropriate measures to decide what should be allowed to take place in protected areas and what should not, depending on what they are designated to protect. It needs that level of dialogue. The Deputy is right; there is a challenge in engaging with the European framework. The Common Fisheries Policy has very high standing in the regulatory processes of what goes on in our marine environment so that is part of the challenge, but the roll-out of the marine protected areas under national legislation is a significant step. Depending on the final shape of that legislation, we will have the opportunity to do things differently in Ireland than with the dictates of the habitats directive and the birds directive. That will give us the opportunity to establish those dialogues, to look to the evidence base and to collate and bring that to bear.

We can then start to make decisions in a well-justified, reasoned way about what should and should not be allowed to take place in areas we are trying to conserve.