Ministers O'Brien and Dooley drive forward legislation to safeguard Irish Seas and streamline maritime planning

The government today approved the preparation of a General Scheme for the Maritime Area Planning (Marine Protected Areas) (Amendment) Bill which will amend the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021. The Bill will provide a legislative basis for the designation and effective management of marine protected areas (MPAs) in Irish waters. It will also provide for a number of other amendments to the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021, which have been identified through practical application of the Act so far. This will further support the regulatory system and ensure a streamlined, effective, and efficient delivery of maritime planning in Ireland.

Approval in principle was also given for the transfer of the consenting function of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Dumping at Sea Act 1996 to the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA). Provisions for the transfer of this function will be included in the Maritime Area Planning (Marine Protected Areas) (Amendment) Bill General Scheme.

This revised approach moves away from creating a third system of spatial designations in Irish waters previously proposed and, instead, aligns the marine protected area designation process with the current regulatory system for marine spatial planning. In this regard, the Maritime Area Planning (Marine Protected Areas) (Amendment) Bill will amend the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 to allow for the designation and effective management of MPAs using the Act’s existing spatial planning tool, termed Designated Maritime Area Plans (DMAPs). This approach will provide for the key elements which will underpin effective marine protection.

Speaking about the Maritime Area Planning (Marine Protected Areas) (Amendment) Bill, Minister O'Brien said:

Minister of State Timmy Dooley said:

This approach will continue to support the attainment of the objectives of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the National Marine Planning Framework, and it will include an in-depth public participation process. This will build on and complement the stakeholder and public participation undertaken to date under Ireland's DMAP process, and the MPA process.

A full General Scheme for the Maritime Area Planning (Marine Protected Areas) (Amendment) Bill will be brought to government, whose approval will then be sought to draft a Bill on that basis for publication and presentation to the Oireachtas.

ENDS

On 1 August 2025, the responsibility for marine environment functions, including marine protected areas, was transferred to the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (DCEE). As part of this a review of options for delivering a legislative basis for MPA designation in Ireland's maritime area was carried out, with a view to creating an ambitious and coherent, representative network of effective MPAs in the shortest timeframe possible, while also supporting coherent marine governance.

It was concluded that it is preferable to consolidate marine legislation as much as possible and not to duplicate or reproduce similar procedures in a separate Marine Protected Areas Act. This approach represents an easier and more straightforward approach through the use of existing procedures set out under the existing Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 (MAP Act).

Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 (MAP Act)

The MAP Act deals with licences for activities in the maritime area, as well as Maritime Area Consents (MACs) for development. In addition, it creates a structure for forward planning in the maritime area, including the establishment of DMAPs, which are forward plans that identify priority areas for specific purposes or uses, based on a comprehensive environmental assessment and an ecosystem-based approach. DMAPs can be sectoral or geographic.

MPAs can fit well into DMAP structures and their inclusion in the MAP Act further embeds environmental matters in planning legislation, emphasising the interconnection of planning and the environment in which human activity occurs. This integrates the ecosystem-based approach to management, which underpins implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and maritime spatial planning in the EU.

The DMAP process makes provision for extensive public participation and appropriate oversight, with each Ministerial DMAP laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. DMAPs use the best available marine data, with an emphasis on environmental protection. Like the MPAs, there is provision for amendment and revocation of DMAPs within the existing Act. Other provisions in the MAP Act (in relation to licences and MACs) include enforcement, management, offences and penalties.

Identification of Potential MPAs

To help inform the future designation of MPAs once legislation is in place, two ecological sensitivity analyses were undertaken by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage prior to the transfer of the marine Environment function to DCEE. An independent expert MPA Advisory Group was convened for the purpose of each analysis.

The aims of these studies of the western Irish Sea and Celtic Sea were to identify possible suitable areas for potential MPAs in these parts of Ireland’s maritime area, as well as developing methods, approaches and standards for identifying such suitable areas.

The Irish Sea sensitivity analysis was completed and published on 19 June 2023 and the Celtic Sea analysis was completed and published on 27 June 2024. These analyses support other planning processes such as ORE designation by providing a level of confidence by indicating those areas in the maritime area where MPAs may be proposed for designation and those areas where MPAs would not be likely to be proposed for designation.

MPA LIFE Project

In advance of legislation being in place, EU-LIFE funding of €15 million has been obtained to aid in developing Ireland’s network of MPAs between now and 2033 at least. The State will add a further €10 million in match funding for this MPA LIFE Ireland project, making a total project fund of €25 million over the period 2024-2033. The MPA LIFE Ireland project and ongoing wider MPA process will ensure the co-design, development and roll out of Marine Protected Areas as well as effective ecosystem-based management.

MPAs - Background

Marine Strategy Framework Directive

Ireland seeks to have a clean, healthy, productive, biologically diverse and sustainably used maritime area, and to implement relevant parts of UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development’’.

Central to work in this area is national implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), including measures to address pressures on biodiversity, habitat loss and pollution, including from marine litter and noise.

The MSFD requires at Article 13.4 that: "Programmes of measures established pursuant to this Article shall include spatial protection measures, contributing to coherent and representative networks of marine protected areas…"

30% Target

Ireland has committed to achieving at least 30% coverage of the maritime area by an ecologically coherent network of MPAs by 2030.

The 30% MPA coverage target comes from and is inspired by three parallel sources:

1. The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 (30% of EU waters protected by MPAs)
2. The OSPAR Regional Sea Convention for the Protection of the North East Atlantic Environment’s Strategic target of 30% of the OSPAR maritime area protected by 2030
3. The UN CBD Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (COP 15, 2022) (30% global coverage, achieved collectively by MPAs)

Other work to date

In autumn 2019, the government initiated a process aimed at expanding Ireland's network of MPAs to deliver on national and international time-bound commitments. MPAs can support economic activity associated with the sea; for example, by conserving areas of particular importance to marine ecosystems and ensuring that human activity is kept at a level that will sustain biological diversity, natural productivity, human health and well-being.

The first step was to convene a multi-disciplinary Advisory Group to provide independent expert advice and recommendations on the processes required and the challenges to be addressed in expanding Ireland's MPA network. As an important part of its active research and deliberations, the Advisory Group gathered and facilitated the sharing of knowledge and perspectives on MPAs from more than 100 key societal, community, business and sectoral stakeholder organisations. The information gathered by the group informed its considerations, analysis and final report, which was published in Irish and English in January 2021.

A public consultation phase centred around the report and the MPA process began in February 2021 and extended over five months. Over 2,300 individual submissions were received from members of economic sectors, the public and other stakeholders. The feedback received was then the subject of an Independent Analysis and Report on Marine Protected Area (MPA) Public Consultation Submissions. The findings and conclusions from this study are in a detailed report, published in March 2022.

MPA legislation

On foot of the recommendations of the 2021 report, the government has been developing legislation to enable the identification, designation and management of MPAs in accordance with Ireland’s national and international commitments.

On 13 December 2022, the government approved the General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill. Substantial work was undertaken in relation to this legislation.

The new legislative approach will incorporate much of the work already completed to date on the standalone MPA Bill and its underlying components including:

• extensive and meaningful public and stakeholder engagement in the MPA process
• the identification of species, habitats and ecosystem services that are at risk and which require protection or restoration - an ecosystem service being a benefit derived from the environment
• the identification of optimal locations to protect these features
• based on this information, the designation of marine protected areas with clear conservation objectives
• the appointment of management authorities for MPAs
• a requirement for management plans for MPAs
• a requirement for bodies authorising, licensing or permitting an activity in an MPA to have regard for its conservation objectives, and
• where necessary, the regulation of harmful activities in an MPA, with associated offences and penalties as appropriate