Legacy marine data and rights to publish legacy marine data to include all of Ireland

As part of a new plan-led regime, the offshore wind Phase Two policy approved by Government in March 2023 requires that all future offshore renewable energy developments in Ireland will take place within Designated Maritime Area Plans (DMAPs), which will be established according to provisions in the Maritime Area Planning Act, 2021. Specifically, all future developments will take place at specific sites within DMAPs that have been identified for this purpose by Government. Government and the Oireachtas has agreed that the first DMAP for Offshore Renewable Energy will be located off the South Coast. In this regard, an initial South Coast DMAP Proposal was published by DECC on 14 July, which was subject to further refinement during summer/autumn 2023, to inter alia account for an initial 8-week public engagement period which commenced on 1 August until 30th September. Commencing with the South Coast DMAP Proposal, the State will undertake comprehensive surveying activities primarily through our partners in the Marine Institute (MI) and Geological Survey Ireland (GSI) to facilitate potential future offshore renewable energy development. This will take place through a comprehensive programme of survey activity within the geographical area of each DMAP proposed and/or marine areas identified for offshore wind development within the future DMAPs, and/or marine areas identified for offshore wind development within the final DMAPs approved by the Oireachtas. For the avoidance of doubt, this surveying will be without prejudice to the South Coast DMAP establishment process, which will be informed by comprehensive public engagement, including targeted engagement with key stakeholders, as well as environmental assessments. In addition to the above anticipated programme of survey work, DECC is seeking to supplement our own existing marine data with existing, high-quality, and unprocessed datasets which have been collected in recent years by private industry. This framework will focus on an all of Ireland approach (Irish Sea, Celtic Sea and Atlantic Ocean) and to potentially focus on other future DMAP areas as required. Through the acquisition process within this competition, the State will seek to develop a broad inventory of applicable and available data to help inform future marine spatial planning, including ORE development. Where specific data not currently in the State’s possession is found to be unavailable or of insufficient quality, DECC will engage with MI/GSI to undertake the necessary surveying activities in the identified areas. The maximum tenderers to be placed on the framework are 20.