In July 2023, the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) was established.
The new agency has consenting and enforcement functions in the maritime area, as set out in the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021. Notably, MARA has assumed responsibility for the assessment of Maritime Area Consent (MAC) applications.
Securing a MAC is the first step in the new offshore planning regime. This is a prerequisite for an application to An Bord Pleanála to grant planning permission for an offshore development. The first MACs were awarded to Phase One offshore wind projects by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications in December 2022. Moving forward, all MACs will be assessed and granted by MARA. The new agency will also assume responsibility for the management of those MACs previously granted.
Beyond assessing and granting all MACs, MARA will also be responsible for the following:
- Granting licences for specified maritime usages (such as preliminary environmental surveys) in the maritime area;
- Promoting and monitoring compliance with the provisions of the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 (as they relate to MACs and licences) and prosecuting offences; and
- Managing the existing State Foreshore portfolio of leases and licences.
Former Chief Executive of the Health Insurance Authority, Laura Brien, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of MARA.
The establishment of MARA follows other key developments in the Irish offshore wind regulatory regime this year. In March, the Government published a Policy Statement on the Framework for Phase Two Offshore Wind to accelerate Ireland's offshore energy programme. EirGrid subsequently published the provisional results of the first auction under the Offshore Renewable Electricity Supports Scheme (ORESS) in May (see our previous article here). Announcing the establishment of MARA, government Minister, Darragh O'Brien, described MARA's establishment as flowing from "the biggest reform of marine governance in Ireland in almost a century."
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