Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Some but not all of the areas of marine life I refer to would be captured under the Sea-Fisheries Acts. This does not simply relate to fisheries. I recognise that section 14 of the Bill has scope to address some of these matters relating to protection and preservation of the marine environment but we do not have enough detail of how that would be done. This is all in the context of the kind of limbo we are in, where many of the planning measures are pushing ahead in the marine planning framework. Perhaps we should not have put the cart before the horse and had marine protected areas with proper legislation before all these suites of measures. I am very concerned by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage's powers in respect of planning - a check or balance in the planning area - being removed last week when two powers were consolidated. A number of checks and balances have been eroded around marine protected areas. Currently, we have very few protected marine areas, including the special areas of conservation that are Natura 2000 sites. There is a concern in this regard about the erosion of some of the measures we have for protection and the lack of a new and proper mandate for marine protection. It is probably why I am trying to get this Bill to do a little more heavy lifting than I would normally ask such legislation to do. That is the context.

Again, I recognise section 14 is the area where this might be addressed. I also note that the Minister of State is constrained by the language of the convention so I will not press the amendment at this point. Perhaps in the Dáil section 14 of the Bill might allow for some expansionary language because it is less constrained by the language of the convention.