John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman. I join with Members in welcoming the Minister to the House and thank him for bringing forward a once-in-a-generation piece of legislation. It is a very comprehensive and complex Bill that runs to 259 pages. It is only right and proper that we acknowledge all of the officials in the Minister’s Department who have worked exceptionally hard on it, not only over the past number of months but in the previous number of years to get us to the point we are at now.

I am a member of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, together with Senators Fitzpatrick, Boyhan, Moynihan and others. We did a substantial body of work and consultation across this Bill at pre-legislative scrutiny stage. We engaged with as many stakeholders as we possibly could in the context of the time-sensitive nature we were facing with this Bill. I know from reading through large sections of the Bill that many of our recommendations have been incorporated in it. I acknowledge the Minister and his officials for that.As regards the potential of our coastline and marine ocean economy that Senator Boyhan referred to, in 2019, Ireland's ocean economy had a turnover of €5.8 billion, supporting 31,000 full-time jobs. Marine-related industries directly contributed €2 billion in added value. There is no question that our diverse maritime resources have the potential to expand over the coming years with the passage of this legislation, not only in the area of seafood, fishing and ocean tourism, but in particular, in our offshore renewable energy capacity. In that context, I ask the Minister, in his concluding remarks, to speak to the limited number of MAC applications pertaining to the seven relevant projects, which currently have the potential to provide 3,000 MW of energy. The industry would argue that there may potentially be a drop-off in terms of what can be provided with those seven relevant projects. Others that have progressed along the various stages thus far may be able to step in to fill that void if that occurs. I am wondering, in terms of that transitional period, if the Minister plans to make provision for some other projects over and above those seven relevant projects.

I think it is important, as the Minister acknowledged himself, that the system is based on four key pillars: inclusive forward planning through the national maritime planning framework; the establishment of a new entity in MARA; development management through a structured sequential consenting system; and robust provisions for investigation, enforcement, action and penalties. With all four of those pillars working in tandem with one another, we can get the best result for everyone in terms of our whole ecosystem, the protection of the diverse ocean area that we have, and also in providing for the enhanced harnessing of that vast resource.

The Minister stated that our ocean is seven times larger than our landmass, amassing 5,000 sq. km. It is enormous. For the very first time, we are going to have a fully comprehensive piece of legislation to deal with everything within that area. It is vast. When we were dealing with our planning strategies for Ireland in terms of the national spatial strategy and the national planning framework, we were only talking about what was on this island. What we are talking about here is a vast swathe of the ocean.

I am not going to labour the point any more. I commend the Minister for bringing in the legislation. In his response, I ask him to talk about projects over and above those seven relevant projects, and to clarify if there is capacity to expand our offshore renewable energy in the transitional period. I am very conscious that it will take time to establish all of the processes. There is a fear that we will not reach our renewable energy targets out to 2030 if we cannot enhance that.