Independent senator Victor Boyhan is questioning the chair of the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) today on whether the new State agency has enough resources to carry out its work.

The Dun Laoghaire senator says he is seeking clarity on the resources available to the new body to fully function when MARA’s chair Mark Mellett, former Vice-Admiral of the Defence Forces, addresses the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage this afternoon.

Wishing Vice-Admiral Mellett well in his new leadership role, Senator Boyhan says that as a former member of Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company, he “understands the challenges around maritime planning consent”.

“MARA will have a key role to play in the streamlined consenting system for the maritime area, including: assessing Maritime Area Consent (MAC) applications for the maritime area, which are required by developers before development permission can be granted,” Boyhan said.

Boyhan noted the new agency, based in Wexford, is also responsible for granting marine licencing for specified activities; compliance and enforcement of MACs, licences, and offshore development consents; investigations and prosecutions; administration of the existing foreshore consent portfolio; and fostering and promoting co-operation between regulators of the maritime area.

Senator Boyhan says he is seeking “clarity” on resources for the agency “as envisaged in the primary legislation for MARA as approved by the Oireachtas”.

Dun Laoghaire Independent senator Victor Boyhan

In his opening statement to the Oireachtas committee, before taking questions, Mellett said that one of MARA’s first priorities is to work with the board and the executive in the preparation and adoption of MARA’s Strategic Plan 2024-2027, establishing trust with all relevant stakeholders.

“Trust takes two forms in this context: trust in the probity of the organisation with transparency, good corporate governance, effective communication and trust in MARA’s efficiency in service delivery,” he said.

“The preparation of our first strategy is a great opportunity to identify our shared vision for the MARA implementing world-class marine planning while addressing the challenges associated with the Climate Action Plan and its implications for the various dimensions of the maritime area,” he said.

“Working collaboratively with all its partners, MARA will support the pillars of Ireland’s marine planning system by:

(i) bringing its expertise, knowledge and skills to enhance forward planning in the maritime area;

(ii) developing a well-functioning transparent consenting system, consistent with the principles of proper marine spatial planning, for all maritime users and activities; and

(iii) Implementing a rigorous, but proportionate, compliance and monitoring programme to ensure the sustainable use of our maritime area and challenge unauthorised development and non-compliance with maritime planning permission.

(iv) MARA will achieve this by building expertise in its people, its processes and its technology. As a key custodian of the maritime area, MARA will ensure that through good management and transparent decision making we will optimise our maritime resource on behalf of all citizens.

(v) MARA will be a key enabler in respect of Ireland’s ambitions for the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) sector, by facilitating a streamlined consenting process, providing certainty to project promoters and delivering a pathway to realising the necessary investment. MARA, at the centre of the new regulatory regime, will also support delivery of other projects of strategic importance (cabling/telecoms projects, ports development, drainage projects, sewerage schemes etc.), facilitating the State to harness significant benefits from realising a low-carbon economy, ensuring energy security, and presenting new opportunities for economic growth”, he said.

“MARA has a key role working with key stakeholders, in particular, Minister O’Brien, Minister Noonan and the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Minister Ryan and the Department of Environment, Climate and

Communications, Minister Coveney and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Local Authorities, An Bórd Pleanala, together with a range of other Government departments and State agencies,” Mellett continued.

Referring to ORE as “the twin challenge and opportunity of our time, in which MARA will pay a central role” to address the climate crisis, Mellett said that Ireland is a “key emerging market in the offshore renewable wind energy space”.

“The scale of our resource is huge - our sea area has the potential to be more than ten times that of our land area,”he said.

“With the richest accessible wind resource on the planet, harnessing our offshore energy resource will make a massive contribution towards achieving regional renewable energy self-sufficiency, putting us on a direct path to zero CO2 emissions while at the same time future-proofing our economy and quality of life. Ireland has extraordinary potential for ORE, initially wind but into the future also wave and tidal,” he said.

“To deliver our climate and offshore wind energy ambitions, the State has moved to a plan-led approach. This will help ensure that development of offshore renewable energy is delivered through a number of overlapping phases in a planned, strategic, economical and sustainable way, which will also guide investment within this sector,” Mellett said.

“This is a challenging time internationally for the market so we need to be sure-footed, with the ambitious vision for the future balanced with a pragmatic eye on enabling the next key steps for Phase1 and 2, while also building towards a future framework,” he said.

“ Working with its partners across Government and in industry while building the required confidence, MARA will be a critical agency to deliver this ambition,” he said.

The Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage has 14 members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.

The meeting today (Nov 7) from 3 pm in Committee Room 2 of Leinster House, Dublin, can be viewed live on Oireachtas TV.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.

Three Government ministers are due to initiate the State’s first maritime planning authority in Wexford today (Thurs 13th).

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien, Minister for Environment and Climate Eamon Ryan and Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney will attend the event at Rosslare Europort.

The Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA), which will be based in Wexford, will be responsible for regulating development and activity in Ireland’s maritime area.

Its role will include assessing applications for maritime area consents (MACs), which are required before developers of offshore wind and other projects in the maritime area can make a planning application.

The establishment of MARA represents a “significant milestone in Ireland's all-of-government approach to renewable offshore energy”, the Department of Housing, which holds responsibility for marine planning, said.

MARA’s first chief executive, Laura Brien, was formerly chief executive/registrar of the Health Insurance Authority.

Previously, She was a director at the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) (2014-2020), where she held various roles covering energy markets, water, and compliance.

Former Defence Forces chief of staff Mark Mellett has already been appointed chair of MARA.

The MARA board members are: Karen Banks; Dr Ruth Brennan; Dr James Massey; Philip Daly; Niamh Kenny; Patrick Gibbon; Paul O’Neill of Ireland’s Department of Environment, Climate and Communications; Patrick Moran of the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform; Alma Walsh of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; and Brendan McGrath of the County and City Management Association.

The State’s first authority for issuing maritime planning permissions will be established on July 17th, with Laura Brien as its chief executive.

The Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) “comes about as part of the biggest reform of marine governance in Ireland in almost a century”, Minister for Housing and Local Government Darragh O’Brien said.

He confirmed the July 17th date and Brien’s appointment at the Wind Energy Ireland Offshore Wind 2023 conference in Dublin this week.

Brien is currently the Chief Executive/Registrar of the Health Insurance Authority.

Previously a director at the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) (2014-2020), she held various roles covering energy markets, water, and compliance.

The new agency, based in Wexford, will have responsibility for assessing applications for maritime area consents (MACs), which will be required before developers of offshore wind and other projects in the maritime area can make a planning application.

It will also be responsible for granting licences for certain activities in the maritime area.

“I’m delighted to announce that Laura Brien will be taking on this role,” O’Brien said of the chief executive appointment.

“ She has extensive experience in the area of regulation across a number of industries, and this will be crucial in leading the new agency,” he said.

Minister for the Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport Eamon Ryan said, "in recent months, we have seen the introduction of a robust policy framework for offshore wind, which has given investors confidence”.

This was “demonstrated by last week’s excellent result of the first offshore renewable energy auction”, Ryan said.

“MARA will play a critical role from its beginnings and I look forward to our offshore renewable targets being met, and to a clean energy transformation for the health and economic prosperity of our citizens,” Ryan said.

Brien said, "MARA will be a key enabler supporting delivery of projects of strategic importance including offshore renewable energy, ports development, cabling and telecoms projects, and many uses of the maritime area”.

“I look forward to working with the chairperson, the board and the broader stakeholder community to achieve MARA’s strategic ambitions in support of sustainable development of our maritime resource,” she said.

Former Defence Forces chief of staff Mark Mellett has already been appointed chair of MARA.

The following people have been appointed to its board: Karen Banks; Dr Ruth Brennan; Dr James Massey; Philip Daly; Niamh Kenny; Patrick Gibbon; Paul O’Neill of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications; Patrick Moran of the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform; Alma Walsh of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; and Brendan McGrath of the County and City Management Association.

The State is recruiting for a chief executive designate/chief executive officer for the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA), which will be responsible for regulating marine planning development and activity in Ireland’s maritime area.
 
Reporting to the board of MARA, the CEO will be the key individual in establishing the authority as a world-class maritime governance agency delivering a world-class service on behalf of the people of Ireland.
 
The successful candidate will have:

• a clear understanding of the role of MARA, the policy context and legislative framework within which it will operate and the broad scope of its functions;

• a proven track record as a strategic leader and senior manager in a complex environment;

• a commitment to innovation and changes and willingness to devise and drive change management initiatives to improve performance of the organisation;
• proven competence in the management of multidisciplinary teams and resources of significant scale; and
• solid financial, regulatory and governance acumen.

The ideal candidate should have significant experience in some or all of the following:


• Knowledge of the maritime sector

• Experience of legal matters including compliance and enforcement

• Experience of regulatory or licensable activities

• Experience driving the establishment of new organisations/structures and work flows and/or new organisational strategies and practices
• 
International experience (eg working abroad or significant engagement with international organisations and process)

Further information on this significant opportunity, including details on how to apply, is available on PublicJobs.ie. The closing date for receipt of completed applications is 3pm on Thursday 20 October.


If you feel you would benefit from a confidential discussion about this role, contact Sarah O’Neil on [email protected]. 


The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and encourage applications under all nine grounds of the Employment Equality Act.

Today’s launch of the National Marine Planning Framework also brings about the establishment of a new Maritime Area Regulatory Authority to oversee licensing and regulation for offshore renewable energy. But what exactly is MARA?

Functions of the new agency — first announced earlier this year — are detailed in the Irish Independent, which explains that MARA will “issue consents for development-related activities and ensure compliance with new planning laws on the way for marine areas”.

Alongside offshore wind energy projects, MARA will also be charged with policing “water and waste water infrastructure, bridges, marinas, coastal protection works, flood relief works and undersea telecommunications cables and power interconnectors”.

The Irish Independent has much more on the story HERE.