Dr. Peter Heffernan:

I will start with Deputy Pringle who had the highest number of questions. He nearly hit ten questions, so I will see if I can get ten answers.

With Natura 2000, we are stretching over a three to four-year period and we are in the last six to nine months. The Deputy asked what is left to be done in terms of appropriate assessments by bay. The number of relevant licences is diminishing the priority of licences. In terms of scientific lift, the back of it is broken. By year end, the estimates from the figures before me are that the vast bulk of it will be done.

The question on the updating is a very pertinent one. It is something we will engage in. I assure the Deputy and the committee that, as the service provider for carrying out the appropriate assessments, I felt very co-ordinated, very pushed and the team, the demand and pressure to get the work done was there constantly. It was a national exercise. We were in a bad place in terms of a court judgment so there was no easy out. The scrutiny level from Europe was very large and the wriggle room was very minimal. Ireland has done a very solid job in equipping itself to be at the forefront of the undertaking of such assessments and to stand over the scientific assessments done on those with confidence. That will empower decision-making as opposed to being a bottleneck for it in the period ahead.

On the question about the work related to the ports and transport and the linked question on seafarer certification for those who wish to pursue another career, through Mr. Liam Lacey, who is the director of the IMDO, we are on the advisory board to the National Maritime College in Cork, which provides such certification and training.

The operation of the Marine Survey Office is a function of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, so I would not be confident to comment on the policy there. We work very closely with the National Maritime College. The first SeaFest in 2015 was on the campus shared by the National Maritime College with elements of Cork Institute of Technology, CIT, and University College Cork, UCC.

With the permission of the Chairman, Mr. Lacey will address the broader question of the possibilities in the shipping and transport area. I ask Mr. Lacey to answer that quickly.