Ms Karin Dubsky:

Many countries have various things right. For example, a few years ago the Spanish introduced a fine shore Act, set wise setbacks and undertook a costing of erosion and coastal planning owing to climate change. It then decided it was going the wrong route and that it would have to commit a huge amount of its annual budget to contain the erosion controls.

Therefore, they decided that any state-owned foreshore and seashore and land behind would be kept as state-owned and not to be built on for anything which could be eroded and which was high value. From that point of view that would be an example on that part. In regard to Scandinavian countries, Germany would be very good on public participation. There is also the UK Marine Act and the marine Bill in Northern Ireland. The head of its marine unit is speaking just now at the Red Cow Moran Hotel about marine protected areas. We would do well to listen to them speak on their marine protected areas. There is also resource protection. We opened our mussel sea fishing in protected sites in Ireland for the first time, all over the Irish Sea coast, while Northern Ireland decided to keep them closed. On one island, there are open fisheries where the boats from Northern Ireland can go to the South, they can rip out our mussel sea beds while in the North they are protected.