Mr. Stephen Kavanagh:

I will speak about jobs and the restoration project we are looking at. All of the witnesses are marine biologists and scientists. The near coastal environment 1 km or 2 km out is a nursery ground and it is extremely important. The wind farms we are speaking about in Wicklow start at six or seven miles out to sea but the couple of kilometres that are very close to shore are vital nursery grounds, particularly the kelp forest. When the mussel reefs and oyster reefs establish underneath them, they are phenomenally beautiful and biodiverse ecosystems.

The kelp forests off the coast of Sussex, for example, were hundreds of square kilometres but less than 5% of them remain because of trawling. These were vitally important to north Atlantic herring. The herring laid their eggs on the kelp fronds. Following the herrings were sea birds, whales and dolphins. There were entire ecosystems that migrated around Britain and Ireland but they have been wiped out and destroyed. These ecosystems start with the near shore environment. The kelp forests and oyster reefs are the basis of what we are trying to do.

With regard to jobs and what the Senator said, if we have these ecosystems close to shore, the potential for biotechnology, local fisheries, marine tourism, study and science is phenomenal.

A huge number of jobs will come from that but we need a belt around Ireland. We talk about green belts around cities and urban centres but Ireland, as a country, needs a green belt. Rather, it needs a red, brown and green belt, which are the colours of our seaweed, a couple of kilometres deep around our coastline. That belt needs to be protected, not just dots of marine protected areas. We need that belt right around the Ireland that will be a nursery ground for our fisheries and the sustainable development of our marine economy.