Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 February 2026
5. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to outline the Government’s policy approach to sustainable seaweed harvesting as it arises under the Marine Planning Policy Statement and the National Marine Planning Framework; the way in which this policy approach is intended to guide decision-making across relevant departments and agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10676/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland’s first non-statutory Marine Planning Policy Statement (MPPS) for all marine planning aspects was published in November 2019, pending the introduction of the National Marine Planning Framework (NMPF) and the enactment of the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 (MAP Act). The MPPS in 2019 outlined existing components of the marine planning system, its future vision, and set out the high-level priorities for the enhancement of the marine planning system in Ireland.
Ireland’s National Marine Planning Framework (NMPF) was adopted in May 2021. The NMPF brings together all marine-based human activities for the first time, outlining the Government’s vision, objectives, and marine planning policies for each marine activity. All public bodies and consenting authorities are required to have regard for the NMPF in exercise of their statutory functions. This is intended to ensure consistency, precautionary and evidence-based decision making across all Departments and agencies.
With the enactment of the MAP Act in 2021, a statutory framework for marine planning policy statements was established. Following a consultation on a draft Statutory Marine Planning Policy Statement (MPPS) in 2025 the Marine Planning Policy Statement (MPPS) is currently in the stages of finalisation, and is expected to be brought before Government in the April 2026.
With regard to seaweed harvesting specifically, the draft MPPS commits the marine planning system to ‘’supporting the development of a regulatory framework for seaweed harvesting, formulating policies which enhance and safeguard key seaweed species and having regard to the important economic and social contribution seaweed makes to coastal communities’’.
