Dr. Donal Griffin:

On the public participation, I reiterate everything Ms Uí Bhroin and others said regarding the four-week public consultation window. It is also important to highlight that public participation is so much more than the written submissions. I know Professor Crowe had mentioned that in his submission. There is a need to really focus on the quality and not just the quantity of how we engage on these issues. There can be varying levels of public participation from stakeholders from being at the table throughout and inputting views to the other end of that which is to have community proposed areas. This bottom up approach has proved to be a very successful model around the world when it comes to the implementation and compliance and the positive biodiversity outcomes that come from MPAs.

There are examples of this in north-west Spain with fishing co-operatives suggesting community proposed MPAs that have all stakeholders and communities on board. There is a similar example in the Isle of Arran in Lamlash Bay in Scotland, which I had the pleasure of visiting a number of years ago. They have a community proposed area that has had really successful biodiversity outcomes ever since.

Professor Crowe and the independent advisory group carried out very good stakeholder engagement work a couple of years ago. I attended many of the engagements. Site selection for MPAs will be different. It will have a hugely local focus. We are talking about the designation of bays, little areas which people are completely invested in. That is different. Despite the overwhelming eagerness to engage by stakeholders in Professor Crowe's and the group's report, there will be an overwhelming interest at a really local level to engage in a different way with this that is local and not national. This is about actual designation of sites, so that needs to be incorporated and possibly stated in the Bill as well, that is, to reflect the need for national, regional, and local-scale engagement around the table, online, as diverse, as open and as transparent and as early as possible.