Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I thank the witnesses so much for their contributions. It was really interesting listening to them and reading what they sent to us in advance. There is significant benefit to what they are telling us, because the national marine planning framework is being rushed through the Dáil. We had little time to discuss it. We had a row about the lack of allocation of real time to discuss it on the floor of the Parliament. We will be voting on it next week or the following week. It is causing significant frustration for those of us who are on this committee and want to see these things as connected.

Unfortunately, we know the way parliamentary democracy works in that one Department does this and the other Department does that and they do not join the dots. They must join up because if they do not, we will make a bags of this.

I particularly want to ask Ms McMahon what she thinks of the marine planning guidelines. Why is our protection of marine biodiversity areas so poor and unenforceable and what impact that will have on climate mitigation in the longer term? We all fear that the guidelines before us and the Bill that may follow will do long-term harm to climate action, never mind biodiversity and the tragedy unfolding before us in terms of our natural resources and wildlife.

I want to ask the panel about one issue which bothers me. What I see happening in terms of the marine planning framework is the wholesale privatisation of our natural resources. In Ireland, we are blessed to live on the edge of the Atlantic, not just because, as Mr. Kavanagh said, we have this wonderful biodiversity and nature sitting on our doorstep which is the solution in many ways for the future to address climate change, but we can also harness renewable energies at a rate at which probably very few other countries can do, if we do it right.

My worry is the wholesale privatisation of that project is not overseen, funded, run and led by the State, rather it is a free-for-all in terms of what companies want to compete for what bits of our ocean they can grab up. It is a dangerous prospect for the future. I would like to hear comment from the other witnesses on that.