Draft Marine Planning Policy Statement

The draft Marine Planning Policy Statement is open for consultation until 5 August 2025. The MPPS sits at the top of the offshore planning policy hierarchy, setting the overarching strategy for all other offshore planning policy documents. It will be an important document for offshore developments going forward. Our Planning & Environment team reviews the key proposed changes compared to the existing MPPS.

What you need to know

• The draft Marine Planning Policy Statement (MPPS) is open for consultation until 5 August 2025.
• The MPPS outlines Ireland’s marine planning priorities and the vision for the future development of Ireland’s marine planning system.
• The draft MPPS is more detailed and ambitious than the current version. It identifies new priorities, including environmental protection and energy security.
• The MPPS will be an important document for offshore development going forward, relevant to both future planning and decision-making.
• You can provide feedback to the consultation online.

What is the MPPS?

The MPPS identifies the Government’s overarching strategic principles and priorities for the management of Ireland’s maritime area.

The first version of the MPPS was published in November 2019 on a non-statutory basis. This is the current version which will remain in place until the new MPPS is adopted.

The Maritime Area Planning Act 2021, as amended, (the MAP Act) introduced a statutory framework for the adoption, monitoring and review of the MPPS. Under the MAP Act, the Government is now required to adopt a statutory MPPS, replacing the 2019 non-statutory version.

The new draft MPPS is open for consultation until 5 August 2025.

How does the MPPS interact with other offshore planning policy?

The MPPS is a key component of Ireland’s new strategic, plan-led approach to maritime spatial policy. The other documents that form part of this forward-planning framework are:

• National Marine Planning Framework (NMPF): this is Ireland’s first maritime spatial plan, the offshore equivalent of the National Planning Policy Framework. It is much more detailed than the MPPS, identifying overarching marine planning policies covering all aspects of the maritime area and activities. This includes ocean health, the maritime economy, and social benefits. As explained in our previous article on offshore renewables consenting, an offshore development must demonstrate compliance with the NMPF as part of a planning application.
• Designated Maritime Area Plans (DMAPs): these are spatial planning documents which identify certain parts of the maritime area considered to be appropriate for specified maritime activities. For example, as noted in our previous article, DMAPs have been introduced to identify areas that are appropriate for offshore wind development.

The MPPS is the top-level strategy document, providing overarching policy guidance. It sits above the NMPF and the DMAPs.

How does the draft MPPS compare to the 2019 version?

Plan-led strategy

Both the 2019 MPPS and the draft MPPS adopt the same overarching strategy of a forward-looking, plan-led approach to the management of the maritime area. This approach aligns with the requirements in the EU Marine Spatial Planning Directive[1], which requires Member States to adopt an overarching spatial plan for their seas.

Key priorities

The key priorities outlined in the 2019 MPPS focus on the importance of establishing a robust, up-to-date legislative and policy framework to manage the maritime area. The 2019 MPPS emphasises the need to establish good governance procedures to allow for transparent decision-making and public participation regarding activities in the maritime area.

The draft MPPS sits within a very different context. Since the 2019 MPPS, a significant amount of progress has been made in the development of a robust framework for the management of the maritime area. The MAP Act has been adopted, implementing a landmark reform of marine spatial planning. The NMPF was introduced in 2021 and the Government has brought forward the first offshore renewable energy DMAP, the South Coast DMAP.

The draft MPPS therefore does not need to focus on the foundational framework to the same extent. It instead looks to what marine spatial planning can achieve.

The priorities identified by the draft MPPS include:

• Environmental stewardship: sustainable management of natural resources is required to protect and restore the marine environment, including the designation of 30% of the maritime area as a “Marine Protected Area” by 2030.
• Social and cultural stewardship: conservation of coastal and offshore heritage, and the sustainable development of rural and island communities.
• Energy security: effective marine planning is identified as being critical to Ireland’s energy security, maximising Ireland’s renewable energy potential and its interconnection with Europe’s energy network.
• Food security: food security is recognised as a key element of sustainable food systems. Regulatory and planning bodies must have regard to the seafood sector and its social, cultural and economic contribution.
• Telecommunications and cyber security: high quality, secure international connectivity is of significant strategic importance to Ireland. It can be supported by prioritising new international connectivity to Europe, facilitation of urgent repairs and enhancements, and increasing cable route diversity.
• Maritime transport security: the vital role of ports in trade, tourism and offshore renewable energy is recognised. The strategic development of ports to increase capacity and capability will be supported.
• National security: the Government has committed to developing a National Maritime Security Strategy to ensure that key assets, such as energy infrastructure and fibre optic cables, are protected.

Status of the MPPS in decision-making

Under the MAP Act, a public body shall have regard to the MPPS when performing a function under that Act or the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended.

The new Planning and Development Act 2024 requires planning authorities and An Coimisiún Pleanála to have regard to the MPPS when performing their functions regarding maritime development. At the time of writing, the relevant section has not yet been commenced but it is anticipated to come into effect before the end of 2025.

The MPPS must also be considered when reviewing a regional and spatial economic strategy or a development plan, where applicable.

Conclusion

The draft MPPS builds on the 2019 MPPS, introducing a wave of new priorities related to:

• Environmental stewardship
• Social and cultural heritage
• Energy
• Telecommunications, and
• Food security.

The MPPS will be an extremely important element of offshore spatial planning going forward. It sits above national planning policy as identified in the NMPF and DMAPs, and regional and local planning policy as set out in regional and development plans. The MPPS is not intended to provide granular detail but instead acts as a guiding strategic document for the plans and policies that sit below it in the policy hierarchy.

Once the relevant sections of the Planning and Development Act 2024 are enacted, planning authorities and An Coimisiún Pleanála will be under an obligation to ‘have regard’ to the MPPS when performing their functions regarding maritime development.

Any developers operating or intending to operate in the offshore environment should review the consultation draft and, if desired, provide feedback before the closure of the consultation on 5 August 2025.

For more information, please contact a member of our Planning & Environment team.

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other advice.

[1] Directive 2014/89/EU)