Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

No, I am not.

The Maritime Area Planning Bill is a component of the national marine planning framework designed to manage marine development. The Minister synopsised this Bill yesterday as setting out to develop and integrate the management plan for 500,000 sq. km. of our ocean and foreshore. The magnitude of the responsibility this Bill seeks to address was highlighted in the Minister's opening statement when he said that we have not inherited the earth from our parents but have borrowed it from our children. The Minister described the scope of the Bill to provide for a marine planning system which will address environmental and planning issues from the smallest boathouse to the largest offshore wind farm. The Bill will establish a new body, the maritime area regulatory authority, MARA, to undertake certain consent and enforcement functions in the new regime.

The enactment and implementation of the Bill will help Ireland to meet its climate action and renewable energy targets. There are very lofty goals within this proposed legislation. Who are the stakeholders? They include Ireland Inc., our coastal communities, our ports and regions, those who draw their living from the ocean, those involved in energy generation and the tourism sector. What are the opportunities? They include the development of a marine-based energy infrastructure having full regard to sustainable development, biodiversity conservation, carbon mitigation, energy security as well as community and enterprise development.

MARA has said that its offices will be located in Wexford which I welcome. I also echo the calls of others in this Chamber regarding the designation of Rosslare as the future wind development port in the country. I am sure the Minister is aware that the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on a recent tour of the country described the future designation of the national wind port as a "competitive process". However, I would point, as I have done on numerous occasions in this House, to the lack of investment in the south-east region over decades. Rosslare is located exactly where it should be in terms of facilitating developments along the east and south coasts. It is also adjacent to the Welsh coast but beyond that, it could be a significant boost to the economy of the south east.

I spoke recently to Mr. Glenn Carr of Rosslare Europort who told me that the envisaged cost is somewhere between €100 million and €150 million, substantially less than the money mentioned earlier to secure the round the world yacht race.

The extension of that facility into the future would benefit Ireland far greater than the tourism boom that might come from yacht racing.

What of the impact on stakeholders, the fishermen and coastal communities, the impacts on our biodiversity, the marine protected areas and our special areas of conservation? Deputy Naughten spoke earlier of the need for a significant and sustained community component, a wind energy rebate into the future. That is an absolute prerogative in this policy.

How does this strategy promote data centre development? I have asked questions in the Dáil in recent weeks, and have yet to have adequate answer, on how many memorandums of understanding, MoUs, have been developed with data centre companies in this country. I understand it is anywhere between 30 and 75. It is said between 30% and 35% of Ireland's energy consumption will be required for data centre management. Are we building these windmills for Ireland Inc. or are we building them for foreign companies to invest in wind generation and data management here?

The long-term strategy is very important in protecting our coastal communities as this strategy unfolds. As others have noted, there are significant pressures on our fishing industry. Factory trawling is going on adjacent to our shores. Can fishermen's trawlers in Ireland be retasked in the future to support offshore wind generation? We should remember that in the recent fishermen's discussions, fishermen lost 15% of their quota. We have some 12% of waters in the EU, yet we can only land 4% of fish caught in these waters. This is an undescribable horror for people who have been in the industry for so long and who see it wane. Maybe wind energy generation can offer some regeneration of income into these coastal communities.

Marine pollution was touched on. There is a significant problem with marine microplastics, as I am sure the Minister is aware. We cannot talk about marine conservation without talking about future social initiatives to change consumer habits. We are talking about stopping fossil fuel generation in the Irish Sea. Why are we not talking about reducing plastic at the same time? It is certainly a no-brainer to me.

I commend the quality of the debate from colleagues yesterday and today. They have offered the Minister and the Government points to think on. We are closing out on the development of fossil fuel and natural gas from the marine environment, but we must ensure we retain national ownership in these future commercial revenues we will create in wind energy generation. I look forward to further developments with Government with this strategy. The south-east coastline is a pre-eminent amenity for people in my constituency and adjacent areas. There are very significant discussions about very large wind farm areas along the south coast. These cannot be foisted on the people of the south to generate for Ireland Inc. and generate energy for foreign data centres without some community coupon and without regard to the wishes of people living in these areas. I look forward to engaging with the Minister and the Department on these issues. I hope to see a genuine effort to designate Rosslare Europort as the future wind generating port in the national development plan.

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