Responsibility for Irish marine planning has transferred to Energy Department DECC, paving the way for accelerated work on offshore wind lease areas.
DECC, which takes control from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, has said it intends to provide the resources and focus that will allow immediate changes and accelerate activity.
The department has secured significant additional technical resources that allows it to establish a dedicated marine forward-planning team, it added.
“This multi-disciplinary team will include marine planners, Geographic Information Systems expertise, marine ecologists, marine mammal and birds experts.”
One of the core functions of this new team will be to bring forward future lease areas known as DMAPs to build on the recently-published South Coast DMAP.
The additional technical resources will also enable DECC to accelerate other critical components of the marine planning system such as statutory marine planning guidelines, full implementation of the National Marine Planning Framework and designing the future marine data repository Ireland urgently needs for informed and joined up marine planning, added the department.
“I’m delighted to welcome these critical new functions into my Department,” said Energy Minister Eamon Ryan.
“As a nation, we are increasingly turning ourselves towards our seas as we seek sustainable solutions to the challenges we face. I want to ensure that we have a modern marine planning system that delivers for all stakeholders and which supports the sustainable uses of our seas across the broadest remit of activities set out in the National Marine Planning Framework.
“My aim and the aim of my Department, building on the work of our colleagues in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and on the commitment and effort of Minister Darragh O’Brien, is to create a marine planning system that has the confidence of all stakeholders and that delivers for all marine interests in a fair and impartial way. As the Government Department that has more marine policy areas than any other within our remit, we are uniquely placed to deliver on this.”