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First published online: 21 January 2026
Grace Carr, Marine Advocacy Officer
On Tuesday 13 January we attended the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs. An Oireachtas committee is a group of TDs and Senators from all political parties that have responsibility to scrutinise and advise on particular matters. This Committee meeting was an opportunity for the members to ask expert stakeholders questions on marine protected areas. It’s important for us to attend these meetings as it gives us an opportunity to engage with representatives and highlight our key asks in a public forum. Some of the main points that we wanted to highlight was the need for all stakeholders to be involved early in the process and that we would like the draft legislation published as soon as possible with time factored in for pre-legislative scrutiny. We were joined with colleagues from Fair Seas, Sustainable Water Network, the Irish Environmental Network (representing Coalition 2030) and Birdwatch Ireland. Also in attendance were members from the Department of Climate, Communications and the Environment who are drafting the Marine Protected Area bill and representatives from the Seafood Ireland Alliance (SIA) which included the Irish South West Fish Producer Organisation and Irish South East Fish Producer Organisation.
Representatives gave their opening statement and it was clear that there were many shared goals and concerns across all the witnesses. Fair Seas have consistently called for early and ongoing stakeholder engagement which is fair and inclusive and this was echoed by Seafood Ireland Alliance. It was encouraging to hear that the Department ‘fully supports the principle of co-creation for marine protected areas. If we take a step back from the legislation, which I can speak to in a minute, we want this to work really well. The only way it can work well is by including everybody in the development, design, creation and management of marine protected areas. That is really clear. It is a fundamental principle underpinning how we are approaching this. Inclusivity is really important.’
The Department stated that there will be processes in the Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP) framework to allow for this although it may have to be strengthened for the MPA process. We would agree with this and the need for better engagement when designating MPAs through DMAPs. The Seafood Ireland Alliance said that development of the current Natura network and the DMAP process was not done in a fully transparent manner. They want to ensure that they are fully involved in the design and establishment of MPAs which they fully support if they are done in the right manner. We also must ensure that all scientific data is taken into account as well as traditional knowledge from fishing and coastal communities.
Issues around the current management of Natura sites came up several times. The Department stated that this is the responsibility of NPWS and could not go into great detail. Representatives from the environmental sector made it clear that there has been a consistent lack of funding provided by the government to effectively manage and monitor existing protected areas on land and sea. We highlighted that a lot of mistrust has been bred in the process of designating and managing areas. People are being caught under layers of bureaucracy and yet are seeing none of the benefits that well managed MPAs should provide. Going forward we need to make sure we do things differently and ensure we have co-design and co-management of areas involving all stakeholders.
Funding to ensure the proper management of protected areas has not been provided by the Government. While NPWS funding increased, this was nowhere near enough of an increase to cover the responsibilities they have. A systemic change in how we protect our environment is needed going forward. We highlighted the upcoming nature restoration law requirements and this possible source of funding and how most of the conversation around the NRL has been focussed on the land based aspects of the law. We need to remember that funding must be made available for marine restoration activities as well as payments for those working at sea who could be affected or assist in managing an area.
It was nearly three years to the day that the Irish Wildlife Trust, Fair Seas and Birdwatch Ireland sat before the Joint Oireachtas Committee in 2023 to discuss the General Scheme of the MPA bill. At that point we were scrutinising the draft which had been released. Now we are in a different position and still waiting for the draft of the new amendment legislation. Fair Seas acknowledged that work has been done in the background since then in regards to the MPA Life project but publicly in regards to the legislation we are no further ahead. Minister of state Timmy Dooley has said that we should expect the General Scheme of this bill to be ready mid 2026. This legislation has been delayed long enough and we feel that this timeline is not acceptable. Our marine environment is deteriorating and the latest Article 17 report for the Habitats Directive painted a stark picture. Out of 14 marine and coastal habitats only two are in favourable condition, down from 3 in 2019. In 2019, 3 marine and coastal habitats were in bad condition and this has more than doubled to 7 in bad condition. The rest are still in inadequate condition. While there is no time to lose and the legislation must be completed as soon as possible, this must not come at the expense of pre-legislative scrutiny and in depth engagement with stakeholders. Pre-legislative scrutiny will allow us and other stakeholders to work constructively with the Department and ensure we get the best possible outcome for this complex piece of legislation.
A positive outcome from the meeting was that the committee agreed to write to the Minister to urge him to ensure the legislation is published quickly, to ensure that stakeholder dialogue is central to it, and to present us with a clear timeline for delivery. Our marine life and marine communities cannot wait any longer. We need to start the process of getting our MPA legislation enacted as soon as possible and for that we need the General Scheme published.
Read the full transcript here
View the video here