Mr. Tom Woolley:

I thank the Chairman for welcoming us here today and I thank the Deputy for his question.

In terms of Article 8.1, the requirement is about setting up maritime spatial plans that identify the spatial and temporal distribution of relevant existing and future activities and uses in the marine waters.

We have worked extensively in developing a plan, first in the baseline report that identified the data and evidence to be used in constructing a plan and then in the draft plan, which was consulted on, with the consultation closing earlier this year. We have worked hard to include as much of that information as possible. One of the questions we asked during the consultation on the baseline report was exactly how spatial people wanted the plan to be. The overriding response we received was that people would prefer a strategic focused plan at this stage. While it is true that the plan does not include many varied spatial policies which state that in the next 20 years we want this activity in this exact space and that is how it is going to work, what we have done is respond to stakeholder direction and outline clearly, for the first time in Ireland, the distribution of the multiple activities that happen in Ireland's maritime area.

We worked very closely with the Marine Institute on a series of quite detailed and, in some cases, minute maps that appear in the MNPF. The aim of that and communicating the spatial distribution of those activities is to ensure that all users of the maritime area are aware of what is happening where. To support that effort further, we are working again with geographic information system, GIS, colleagues in our Department and the Marine Institute to develop a digital tool that will communicate those maps, which we hope to have in place to accompany the launch of the NMPF. Not only will we have the static maps that show distribution of activities in the maritime area in the PDF and paper version of the plan at the launch, we are also committing to ensuring that data is kept up to date in line with the plan. While the plan policies stay in place and they are relevant for the 20-year period of the plan, the best available data and spatial information that people could use in applying the plan in their decisions are updated regularly.

We hope that approach will address Article 8.1 thoroughly. We have been working closely with, and looking at the work of, other jurisdictions on this to inform how we approach spatial representation and support tools for marine spatial planning. We hope we are pursuing routes to ensure that we are meeting that Article. For the time being, at least, we are satisfied that we are meeting that requirement.