Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy will be aware that with the passage of the national marine planning legislation back in 2021, where we introduced the approach through the designated marine area plans, the approach to identifying those sites and the approach to engaging with stakeholders in a very open and transparent way, it has worked well. Our first DMAP was launched in this House in October of last year and was not judicially reviewed, which to me was a clear indication that the process and the legislative basis on which it was founded is working. It is about that kind of engagement and planning ahead. The approach we had taken up to this was about leaving it up to developers to identify sites. They were known as the phase 1 projects, such as the two the Deputy referred to. The Government moved from that to a plan-led approach whereby the State will identify the areas that are suitable and will work with communities and stakeholders to try to ensure that there is not that level of objection when it goes to the planning process. This is what we are doing now. We announced last Friday a full national DMAP, to follow on from the one in existence, to ensure a plan-led approach and a consultative approach with stakeholders, whether they be fishermen, other sea users or the communities where the infrastructure will have to be built in the first instance to serve the sites or where a grid will have to be built to bring it ashore.

While we were slow getting started, we have an appropriate system in place now that I feel is certainly working but the important thing is to get it moving as quickly as possible.

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