Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 February 2022
272. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the plans to clear the backlog of applications for foreshore licences awaiting decision in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10643/22]
View answer273. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the new legislation on foreshore licences will be implemented; the responsibilities transferring to local authorities and the responsibilities transferring to MARA; the resources that will be made available to ensure that speedy decisions will be made on future foreshore applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10644/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 272 and 273 together.
The Maritime Area Planning (MAP) Act 2021, enacted in December 2021, establishes a new marine planning system, which is underpinned by a statutory Marine Planning Policy Statement guided by the National Marine Planning Framework (NMPF), consisting of a new licensing and development management regime from the high water mark to the outer limit of the State’s continental shelf. This new regime will be administered in due course by the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA), and by An Bord Pleanála (ABP) and the coastal local authorities.
This new marine planning system will replace existing State and development consent regimes (i.e. the existing foreshore system with the exception of the responsibilities of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine) and will streamline arrangements on the basis of a single consent principle, i.e. one state consent (Maritime Area Consent) to enable occupation of the Maritime Area and one development consent (planning permission), with a single environmental assessment.
Maritime Area Consents (MACs) will be granted by MARA. Development consent responsibility for coastal areas will be generally discharged by the relevant local authority within a newly designated nearshore area i.e. from the high water mark 3nm seaward. ABP will be responsible for certain classes of development within the entire Maritime Area and for the generality of development beyond the nearshore.
The MAP Act also sets out special provisions for offshore renewable energy (ORE) projects satisfying the definition of “relevant maritime usage”. Recognising that it will take time to establish a new agency, it was decided by Government that the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications should be granted limited powers to invite MAC applications for ORE projects satisfying the definition of “relevant maritime usage” for a specified period in advance of the establishment of MARA. A public consultation on these processes was held recently by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and applications for MACs from these projects will be accepted later this year. Any project satisfying the definition of “relevant maritime usage” which is granted a MAC by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications must then apply for the necessary development permission from An Bord Pleanála under the new regime.
The aim is to have MARA established by Q1 2023 and, to facilitate this, a dedicated Unit has been set up within my Department to progress the Implementation Plan to establish this new agency. Extensive preparatory work will be required over the coming months to enable MARA to undertake the wide range of its statutory functions post-establishment. This work includes drafting commencement orders, and preparing a series of regulations and statutory guidelines as well as developing the processes dependent on same.
In the interim period, responsibility for development on Ireland’s foreshore will continue to be regulated under the provisions of the Foreshore Act 1933, as amended. As Minister, I am the ‘appropriate Minister’ for the purposes of this Act (with the exception of a number of specific areas of responsibility for which the Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine is the appropriate Minister), and I will continue to accept, assess and grant/refuse applications for foreshore leases and licences under the foreshore regime until MARA is established. After the establishment of MARA, new applications will not be accepted under the current Foreshore consenting regime, but applications on hand (e.g. site investigation applications etc.) will be processed to completion.
There has been a significant increase in the number and complexity of foreshore licence and lease applications over the last two to three years. The majority of this increased activity is related to Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) infrastructural development, including potential development site investigation activity, Eirgrid cabling development, and port infrastructure improvement. In addition, power and telecommunication cable application activity has increased from both commercial and state-led projects. In parallel, emerging case law and enhanced requirements arising from various environmental assessment Directives have added to the complexity of the appraisal process.
Over the last eighteen months, my Department has more than doubled the staffing resources available within the Foreshore Unit to address the increasing workload. In addition, a panel of external specialist environmental consultants is in operation to assist in the technical assessment of applications. While I am satisfied that the appropriate resources are in place, I am keen to keep the arrangements under review until such time as the MARA is established.
Under the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021, MARA will also, in due course, undertake all administrative responsibility and estate management functions for the portfolio of existing foreshore leases and licences (numbering in excess of 2,200).
