Planning for Irish Offshore Renewables: Are We Moving in the Right Direction with the Maritime Area and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill?

With the long-awaited Maritime Area and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill promised to come before the Oireachtas this year, to what extent does the draft Bill provide a legal regime that encourages the growth of Irish offshore renewables and the protection of our coastal environment? This paper offers a critical commentary on the draft Bill as it relates to marine renewable developments on three specific grounds: 1. that the proposed Irish consent process in the Bill does not match the widely-respected Scottish streamlined consent procedures; 2. that the innovation of maritime options in the Bill is open to challenge on administrative law grounds and is likely to generate uncertainty; 3. that the Bill would benefit from inclusion of adaptive management principles following New Zealands experience, where adaptive management is enshrined in basic legislation.