Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Senators for their very considered contributions. I welcome the support of all parties and none in the House. It is very important legislation. I will deal with some of the issues on Committee Stage. We might be able to deal with them in a little bit more detail then. I have taken notes of all comments made.

Section 6 of the Bill has been amended to reflect public participation and to allow for it, which is very important. Senator Boyhan participated in the committee, along with Senators Moynihan, Fitzpatrick and Cummins. I will provide a grid of the suggestions that were taken on board during pre-legislative scrutiny and that are now part of the Bill.

Let us be clear about this. We have to move on with the legislation. If people want to find or create an issue that does not exist and use it as a reason not to proceed that is fine but it is for them to reflect on in eight, nine or ten years' time when we have not met the climate targets we have set. I profoundly disagree with the comment that biodiversity is being sacrificed at the table of climate action. That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. The Bill is about protecting our marine environment. Effectively, it creates one big marine protected area first because it will regulate what happens in our maritime area. If people watching this debate did not already know, they will now know exactly the size of it and that it is seven times our own land mass. Everyone has alluded to it.

Protecting marine areas is very important. We are doing this and the legislation is happening. Some in the Opposition, and this happened in the Dáil also, try to use this - if the House will excuse the maritime analogy - as a red herring to delay this really important legislation. With the passing of the Bill and the establishment of MARA, we will ensure that our total maritime area is regulated. Let us not lose sight of this and let us not tell coastal communities or stakeholders that it is any different because it is not. I speak as someone who represents a coastal constituency where I have lived my whole life. I have immense regard for it, as do all of us. We want to ensure our maritime area is protected and enhanced, the loss of biodiversity we have seen in our maritime area is reversed and the valuable resource is harnessed in a structured and sustainable way.We will be able to generate energy for our people into the future in a sustainable way to reduce our reliance on renewables. If anything, people should have been asking why this was not done sooner. I genuinely commend my officials on the work they have done with the Oireachtas joint committee and all Opposition and Government members of the committee on their input into this. Now is the time to pass this Bill, to establish MARA and to put in train the regulatory authorities.

I will deal with some of the issues raised, including the idea that we should wait. We had detailed public consultation on MPAs, and we needed to do that. The Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, and I were heavily involved in getting that done. We are moving through with that legislation. The idea that we should wait for a designation has been raised. The Government is responsible for committing to the MPAs covering 30% of our maritime area. This was not sought by, as far as I could tell, any members of the Opposition parties in that space. We are doing it.