Dr. Aoibhinn N? Sh?illeabh?in:

Eight specific recommendations were made by assembly members on marine and coastal environments. Professor Crowe referenced many of them when he talked about marine protection areas. Assembly members also recommended that the State should create a national marine biodiversity co-ordination body to have responsibility for MPAs and to make sure we achieve good environmental status within that. There are then many discussions to be had on fishing zones and biodiversity net gain in any developments that are in marine and coastal environments.

If we are talking about a national marine biodiversity co-ordination centre, I draw attention to recommendation No. 24, which references a national independent agency that would oversee all the centralised biodiversity actions. One thing we heard consistently across all the reports over the whole ten months was that biodiversity falls between the cracks. It is in one wing of one Department but is actually a central part of two other Departments' work. While we ask an awful lot of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, and it has had reviews and additional funding, it does not have the strength to require other agencies and Departments to do certain work. It was very emphatic from assembly members that a strengthened, independent agency would act as a centralised biodiversity co-ordinating structure. That goes back to Deputy Bruton's question on what the first thing is we should do. It is to make this a priority and, with that, add the structures that will allow it to be a priority across government.