The legislation governing construction at sea is The Foreshore Act 1933. This law gives power to a Minister to grant foreshore licences (for site investigation) and leases (for construction) for proposed offshore projects. It has been used by successive Ministers over the past 25 years to give consent to prospective offshore wind developers who selected areas of the foreshore (out to 12 nautical miles or 22.2 km) on a ‘first-come-first-served’, ad hoc, basis, with no environmental constraints. The consequences of this developer-led planning and lax regulation are widespread, posing a significant threat to valuable marine habitats and species and the democratic process.

Firstly, many current development proposals are targeting high biodiversity value sites that are, in fact, completely unsuitable for development. See the Fair Seas report ‘Revitalising our Seas’ for further details.

Secondly, over the past decade, most of the original stakeholders have sold on all or part of their dubious interests, netting them large profits in return for access to State-owned foreshore. In February 2020, for example, it was reported that French Energy giant, EDF, acquired a 50% stake in the proposed Codling windfarm from a company linked to developer, Johnny Ronan, at an estimated cost of €100 million. Just months earlier, in June 2019, official documentation shows that €5m was owed by Codling in unpaid fees to the State, that it was considered that Codling was close to being in development default and that the Department was contemplating termination of the lease. By 19 May 2020, all this changed. It was announced that Codling had been classified as a ‘relevant’ project, and would be fast-tracked through the consenting process. Unbelievably, all this happened in the absence of any environmental assessment or public involvement, at a time when the country was experiencing the early chaos of the Covid pandemic.