The Irish Marine Federation (IMF) has given a cautious welcome to the forecasted changes to the foreshore bill designed to streamline the development consent process for the foreshore.
The government has published its Legislation Programme for Spring/Summer 2015 and the Maritime Area and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill is among a list of key Bills of interest which currently before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
The Bill will streamline the development consent process for the foreshore, including the integration of certain parts of the foreshore consent process (under the Foreshore Act 1933) with the existing on-land planning system.
The IMF has long held out that the failure to manage Ireland’s natural resources “in a consistent or coherent manner” has led to serious setbacks in the support of marine tourism on the island.