Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to address this motion. I offer Sinn Féin's support for the measure, but with conditionality. The powers that will be afforded to the Ministers following the agreement of the motion are complementary to the marine planning and development Bill on which the Department is currently working, which will have far-reaching consequences and leave a long-term impact on coastal communities and the fishing industry. I accept there needs to be strict oversight and scrutiny of any application to dump materials at sea by the Ministers and their successors. Dumping at sea should only take place as a last resort and where no other alternative is available. Under no circumstances should any toxic materials ever be dumped at sea to cause harm to the marine environment. Marine planning is essential to ensure a viable and sustainable future for all on the island who use and, in some cases, depend on the marine environment for their livelihood.

I wish to raise an area of real concern with the marine planning and development Bill. The functions of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are excluded from the scope of the Bill. It appears that aquaculture licensing is not included in the Bill, which is a major problem. For years, the potential of the aquaculture industry to create thousands of jobs in remote coastal communities, including in my constituency of Donegal, has been blocked and stymied by shocking levels of bureaucracy and under-resourcing of the application and appeals process. Some aquaculture licence applications have dragged on for more than ten years. The company, Mowi Ireland, previously Marine Harvest, is a world leader in aquaculture. It is based in the Fanad Peninsula in north Donegal. It has been held back for years from creating many more jobs and wealth in Donegal and on the west coast. Norway, Scotland and even the Faroe Islands produce multiples of the annual production in Ireland. This shocking failure has cost us thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in lost revenue. The report of the 2017 independent review of the aquaculture licensing process was supposed to change all of that, but the recommendations have not yet been fully implemented. That must be urgently addressed. One of the key areas of change is the separation of the aquaculture licensing function from the monitoring and enforcement of aquaculture licences. I appeal to the Minister to take aquaculture licensing under the scope of the Bill and away from the failed model under the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

One other very important issue that will affect the future of fishers and coastal communities is marine protected areas. I took on the role of Sinn Féin spokesperson on fisheries and the marine last summer. Since then, I have engaged extensively with fishers and their representatives. Irish fishers are extremely concerned and angry with the Government and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. For a long time, they have seen themselves as a forgotten industry. They have been sacrificed at every turn in EU negotiations to get a better deal for other sectors. Not alone have they faced Covid-19, but they also face Brexit. Without doubt, fisheries has been the industry most damaged and the one that has faced most disruption since the Brexit trade deal at the turn of the year.

There have been reductions in quotas, displacement of vessels, difficulties landing in ports, significant reductions in prices of some species and the collapse of export prices. I raise these issues because the next significant issue coming down the tracks is marine protected areas. These are the responsibility of the Minister and his Department. In every meeting that I have held with fishery representatives, marine protected areas, MPAs, are raised. Our fishers are the custodians of the sea. They need sustainable stock to preserve their traditions and livelihoods. I stress that they are not against marine protected areas. They want to be included. They need to be engaged with and they must be part of the decision-making process.

I have read the Department's report, Expanding Ireland's Marine Protected Area Network. While it is welcome, the report is entirely academic and science-based. There is no engagement with fishers and this is unacceptable. Ireland does not currently have legislation governing MPAs. This is an opportunity to allow engagement to take place. There need to be widespread consultations with the fishing sector to agree the best approach for marine protected areas in Ireland. There have been positive experiences with fishers in Galicia and the Canary Islands when introducing MPAs. I ask that we ensure the same happens in Ireland.

Sinn Féin wants a robust and transparent marine planning system that supports our coastal communities, protects the marine environment and facilitates timely development of offshore energy sources. All three of these objectives can be achieved with the right level of planning and the right policy framework. It is the Minister's job to get all of these right. We have real concerns that the draft general scheme of the marine planning and development Bill is weak on ensuring full consultation with all representative and stakeholder bodies in coastal and other communities.

We need to ensure the protection of the marine environment and a community dividend for communities where offshore wind projects are planned and will eventually be located. We must ensure maximum access and passage are preserved for our fishing fleet, especially our smaller inshore fleet, and that fishers' livelihoods are protected. We must study and request further studies of international best practice regarding where offshore wind farms are currently located and that a maximum distance from shore is ensured where possible.

We can get this right. Ireland can be a benchmark for other countries. Planning, which is included in the Title of the Bill, is paramount. Protecting our marine area and ensuring a sustainable environment for our coastal communities and the country generally are paramount. We believe that sustainable economic fisheries, aquaculture, marine protected areas and offshore wind energy farms can all coexist but they can only coexist with meticulous and inclusive planning. Change can be good. It can create opportunities and it is needed to secure our future and address our climate change requirements.

We in Sinn Féin will continue to engage with coastal communities, environmental NGOs, scientific experts and industry to advance our three objectives of protecting and sustaining our marine environment, supporting the sustainable development of our coastal communities and facilitating the delivery of renewable energy through offshore wind farms.

I reaffirm the absolute necessity of ensuring that the aquaculture licensing process comes under this legislation. How can we have marine planning if we do not include aquaculture licensing? People have a right to see the advertisement, to know the location and to be properly aware of it. They have a right to object and submit environmental considerations. That decision should be made in a timely fashion. One cannot develop an aquaculture industry if one does not know if one will have a licence and might be stuck for ten years. I reaffirm the point and I appreciate that the Minister responded in the positive.

It is important that we take this opportunity to introduce a marine planning framework to correct the mistakes that we made, allow people to have their say and protect that right, while, at the same time, allowing the industry to grow and achieve the substantial potential we have seen achieved in countries such as Scotland, Norway and even the Faroe Islands, which have multiples of what we have. I wish the Minister well in those endeavours and I am willing to work with him to achieve that goal.

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