Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. Like Senator Chambers, I was fascinated by the law of the sea as a young law student in UCD. Key to this is the commitment to multilateralism, and the law of the sea was a multilateral success. If we are going to solve some of our bigger global challenges, it must be through participation in organisations like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which can help resolve some of the challenges.

I hope that in the context of this legislation, there will be much emphasis on the importance of conservation, sustainability and biodiversity. This is going to be a really important part of the legislation. We should consider as policy how to extend that beyond our national jurisdiction. Decisions about what happens on the high seas can have a particular impact on us as a coastal community.We know that our real territory is ten times that of our land territory. As a result, decisions that happen at sea impact on us in a big way. We need enforcement. When one considers the affect of global warming on the sea, it has impacts in terms of disturbing marine life and other species and by the heating seawater. It also has an impact on our coastal communities because it causes coastal erosion. We must look at trying to raise awareness of all those issues. I hope that, in the context of the COP26 discussions, the Government will take a very strong approach towards protecting our oceans, which are a core resource.

One of the most innovative lines of research in this area is the INFOMAR research being done by the Marine Institute and the Geological Survey of Ireland. They are looking at the physical and biological make-up of our sea bed. They hope to have it all done by 2026. I am glad to see that elements of this research are feeding into the junior certificate curriculum. As part of the reform of the leaving certificate, I would love to see elements of the law of the sea being introduced so that we could talk about our national sovereignty and our territory, which extends out to the sea, and the fact that we appreciate the importance of our oceans.

There has been some confusion in the comments today whereby issues relating to the Bill before us, which is consolidating legislation, and the upcoming marine planning and development management Bill, which is very important legislation that will deserve a lot of scrutiny, have merged. The Bill before us is essential consolidating legislation. As Senator Craughwell and others stated, we will need to ensure that we can enforce it in order so that those who are looking to damage the oceans and the sea will know that we will take action against them. I strongly support the legislation.