Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I share the concerns about not having stand-alone legislation to deal with marine ecology and marine protected areas. Inevitably what will happen if we amend other legislation, whether it is DMAPs or the Wildlife Act, is that there will be a watering down of it. I am finding it hard to understand this. Three years have been spent developing this stand-alone legislation. What are the challenges? How could it be quicker to start a new process now and amend other legislation if we have already spent three years developing it?