Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. I feel we are standing very close so I apologise. I do not want to crowd him but this is my allocated seat.

It is a coincidence that the Minister is coming to the Seanad with this legislation today considering the storm that is attacking our island. Our thoughts are with all the coastal communities that are being battered by Storm Barra. Thankfully, we seem to be getting away with it so far here in Dublin. I thank all the emergency services under the command of the Minister’s Department for the work they have done and will do.

This legislation is important. As the Minister said, it is game changing in respect of the State’s role not only in the protection of our maritime area but also in planning for and developing activities in the maritime area. There has not really been legislation to deal with this issue since the 1930s. We will not be too critical of those who have gone before us but we will certainly adopt a much greater sense of urgency in our business. We are firmly committed to having this legislation passed before Christmas. It is imperative that this House and the Dáil pass it. It is needed urgently. We have huge potential in our maritime area, which is 500,000 km in length or seven times our landmass. The Minister said this himself.

The Bill has more than 250 pages. It has nine Parts and 190 sections. We spent a lot of time at the joint the Oireachtas committee engaged in pre-legislative scrutiny. We appreciate that the Minister and his Department have taken on several of our recommendations. The recommendations strengthen the legislation and do so in a way that will ensure our maritime area is not only protected but also developed to meet its full potential.

I started by alluding to climate change. We all recognise in this House, and it is increasingly recognised outside the House, that we must achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Ireland is already doing very well in respect of its production of renewable energy from wind sources. Those sources have largely been onshore to date; we have only one offshore farm, off Wicklow. The Government is committed to net neutrality by 2050, but 80% of our electricity is to come from renewable sources by 2030. Considering that it takes about ten years to develop offshore wind farms, we really do need to have a sense of urgency in our work. We need to be very critical but also constructive in our contributions to the Minister so we can enable him to pass this legislation sooner rather than later. The legislation will establish MARA, which is important. It will put in place the framework for the issuing of maritime area consents, protect those consents and ensure enforcement. These are all planning functions that we take for granted on land, but we are only playing catch-up with our maritime area.

The Government and industry see great potential in the development of offshore capacity. It is our job to ensure the legislation maximises this potential. We need to ensure the State deals with issues concerning infrastructure on land, including quays, so the energy can be delivered for use. The infrastructure must also be developed for other green energy sources. Green hydrogen comes to mind. Who knows what the future will bring?

I commend the Minister on bringing this legislation to the House and on the work he has done. I congratulate everybody in his Department who has contributed and all the external stakeholders who have contributed at the various public consultations. We look forward to the debate and to having this legislation passed before the Christmas.