Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 2 probably has better wording in respect of this but, unfortunately, was not deemed to be in order. I know there are imperfections in the wording of amendment No. 30 but I think the principle is really important, namely, that there would be a process to provide for interim protections. This is all about what happens in between. Simply stating that we are happy with this process and will be happy with the next process regarding the marine protected areas is fine but the space is that space in between. While I understand the Minister of State's personal interest in and engagement in all of these areas, I am still not satisfied as to what the interim measures may be. Perhaps it is not a pause, as some of our amendments have looked to, that is, that there would be a pause pending the proper things being put in place. Certainly there should be interim protections to ensure that the designation the Minister of State hopes to do in terms of marine protected areas is not compromised. I will be really frank and this is not so much on the Minister but rather everybody who has had a role in this area. The delays in designating special areas of conservation in Ireland have led to areas becoming degraded and damaged. In respect of the delays in marine protection area designation and the failure to achieve the very basic 10% we were meant to achieve last year, we lose ground, space and opportunities. Biodiversity loss can be significant. The kind of things that may be allowed for under the marine planning framework have real impacts. I reserve the right to introduce an amendment on this issue on Report Stage. I will certainly engage with the Minister of State regarding the regulations on this. It involves things like the kind of surveys done regarding maritime usages and the kind of activities around even applications for maritime usages. All kinds of things may happen.

Again, what I am trying to suggest here is that the Minister of State should put interim measures in place to ensure that the position our maritime areas are in at the point when our marine protected areas are introduced does not in any way deteriorate between this moment and when that legislation comes in. This is where the interim protections come in. Maritime area consents, which, again, allow for different maritime usages, have the potential to compromise biodiversity. Even the very act of the surveys associated with maritime usages have had a knock-on effect. We know of multiple companies conducting annual surveys again and again. The survey on cetacean audio impacts has been quite significant in that regard. It is a similar case with development consents because if we issue them, there is that concern. I know this is not perfectly worded but if we have that situation, it is very hard to roll back on something. There is a reluctance to do that. We saw it even with the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill. Frankly, it is ludicrous that we are prohibiting certain kinds of things in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill but then say, "If you've already had an exploration, we should allow you to potentially go on and apply for an extraction licence." There are knock-on effects. We create legal liabilities.We do not want to be in a position where in two or three years' time we are told that, unfortunately, X, Y or Z company on legal advice mysteriously from the Attorney General, which none of us can see, states we are not a position to address something as the horse has bolted on that and our legal advice is that we cannot do X, Y or Z. We have seen the chill effect in that regard in lots of areas. For example, the banning of liquefied natural gas which should have happened already. I am not going to go into other areas of environmental planning but these are examples. Amendment No. 30 seeks to ensure that we avoid creating hostages to fortune and we do not lose ground.