Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 April 2022
267. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will clear the lengthy backlog of foreshore licence applications for offshore renewables by redeploying into his Department three ecologists to the foreshore unit to address renewable energy applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18935/22]
View answerThe Maritime Area Planning (MAP) Act 2021, enacted in December 2021, establishes a new plan-led 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 and the coastal local authorities and will be replace the existing consenting regime for maritime development underpinned by the Foreshore act 1933.
My Department currently has responsibility for assessing applications for a foreshore licence under the Foreshore Act 1933 for site investigations within the foreshore area linked to the proposed development of offshore renewable energy projects. The site investigations are critical activities developers undertake in order to investigate viability and prepare environmental impact assessments of potential future offshore renewable energy (ORE) infrastructure. The majority of these applications have been received in the last 12 months which is strong indication of the appetite and commercial interest in the developing ORE sector in Ireland. The Foreshore Section of my Department also assesses foreshore consent applications for a range of other proposed activities and developments relating to ports and harbours, strategic infrastructure projects like water and waste water infrastructure, local authorities’ infrastructural works such as bridges, marinas, coastal protection works, flood relief works, as well as strategically important telecommunications and interconnector projects.
Each application must be assessed appropriately in accordance with the applicable requirements of domestic and EU law including the EIA Directive, Birds and Habitats Regulations and the Foreshore Act. Over the last eighteen months, my Department has more than doubled the staffing resources available within the Foreshore Section to address this increasing workload. In parallel, the processes underpinning the statutory assessment processes have been refined allowing the various procedures to run in parallel, where appropriate. This should reduce the average time taken to assess an application. In addition, a panel of external specialist environmental consultants is in operation to assist in the technical assessment of applications. Recognising the increasing complexity and volume of applications being received; the importance of expediting the advancement of activities to assist in achieving our Climate Action Plan targets, as well as the competition for what is a limited pool of technical expertise in this area, my Department is exploring how it can further expand the technical expertise available to it to meet these demands.
In relation to foreshore licence applications from ORE related developers, my Department is continuing to prioritise site investigation licence applications linked to a set of seven qualified ORE projects, known as "relevant projects" or Phase 1 project, which qualify to make an application to the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications for a Maritime Area Consent (MAC) as part of the transition provisions in the MAP Act 2021. Any project in this category 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 marine planning system.
The first phase of offshore wind development in Ireland will be necessary but not sufficient to reach our 2030 5GW ambition. An additional phase is required, comprised of projects which can deliver by 2030. The Minister for Energy, Climate and Communications is currently considering the Phase Two selection process, with a public consultation recently having been held on this matter. Applications for a foreshore licence for site investigations linked to proposed ORE projects outside of the first Phase are currently being processed in my Department on a chronological basis, with a degree of flexibility provided to cater for situations, for example, where a developer has several applications lodged and wishes to progress one ahead of the other for commercial or other reasons. The basis on which these applications are prioritised, and the public interest matters associated with the assessment process, will be revisited when the policy approach to the management of the Phase 2, including matters relating to grid capacity, have been settled.
MACs for the Phase Two projects will be granted by the MARA. 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. The MAP Act will also introduce the possibility of applying for a licence for marine environmental surveys for the purposes of site investigations in the maritime area, without the requirement for a MAC, upon the commencement of MARA and its consenting functions. While I and Government colleagues are delighted to see the strong interest from developers in seeking to advance offshore wind projects and other strategically important infrastructural projects on the State’s foreshore, it is Government’s position that the continuing development of the ORE industry and related energy infrastructure must be progressed under a plan-led centralised approach as provided for under the MAP Act.
