Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and congratulate him, his Department officials and the members of the Oireachtas joint committee on their work on this comprehensive and complex legislation, which I warmly welcome. Coming from a coastal community and having seen the potential for offshore wind energy, I appreciate the enactment of this legislation will be extremely important.

The Minister mentioned the Foreshore Act 1933. Is it being replaced in its entirety or only sections of it? That Act would have dealt with issues such as foreshore acquisition and an issue that may or may not have crossed the Minister’s desk, that is, seaweed rights and harvesting. Seaweed is an important asset to coastal communities in my area and, in terms of research, it may have the potential to gain even more prominence as a food additive for cattle.

The first national maritime planning framework was published in 2019 and it will be renewed every six years thereafter. I welcome that and also the establishment of the maritime area regulatory authority. Senior planners in a local authority would always have dealt with the most complex and more important planning applications. It is important that experienced people are recruited to MARA.

Will the requirement to have designated maritime area plans over-complicate the process? Will they delay the delivery of projects? For example, if an application is submitted before a designated maritime area plan has been prepared or is under consideration, will that plan have to be enacted first?

Níl a fhios agam ach b'fhéidir go bhfuil deiseanna anseo d'eagraíocht Stáit cosúil le hÚdarás na Gaeltachta mar go mbeadh sé in ann plean a ullmhú do Chuan Chasla i gConamara, mar shampla, agus go bhfuil deiseanna ansin ó thaobh fuinnimh in-athnuaite i gceantar Chonamara ansin.

It is stated local authorities will examine all other applications within their own designated nearshore area extending a maximum of 3 nautical miles from the shore. In terms of islands, which may be further than 3 miles from shore, is it 3 miles from the island? The Minister might provide clarification on that and that local authorities will ensure compliance with planning permission conditions within their nearshore areas. Local authorities will still have roles for some of the work but the larger projects and those outside the nearshore area will be under the jurisdiction of MARA.

Section 78 deals with fees to be paid to MARA.In terms of clarity and projects awarded a maritime area consent or the equivalent planning permission, will the maritime area regulatory authority be collecting development contributions under a local authority-type scheme or will a local authority be able to collect those development contributions, which would be very valuable to certain local authorities? Are rates payable on these projects? They are multimillion euro projects and I imagine rates would be levied. Again, they would be very important as a long-term source of funding for local authorities. Where a project is delivered off the coast of Galway, will Galway County Council be able to collect rates on that? Of course, there is engagement. Sometimes the cable might be coming on shore in another local authority. For example, a project off Galway could see a cable being brought on shore at Moneypoint. Could we get clarity on that?

The next issue concerns projects that have been granted relevant status prior to this. About seven projects were granted relevant status in May or June of 2020. I received correspondence that there are some concerns about the lack of flexibility for projects that were planned a decade or more ago. This relates to section 101(1) regarding relevant maritime usages. It had been interpreted as permitting the Minister to permit a MAC for the usage originally applied for as part of the foreshore lease application process. However, it now seems there is a geographical limit on the area in respect of which a MAC can be provided that is restricted to the area in respect of which a foreshore lease was granted or where an application was made. There are issues here with regard to projects that received relevant status but had not applied for a cable route pending confirmation of their connection status. Will they be covered under this? Perhaps the Minister can look at this area.