I ask about actual promised legislation, namely, the marine protected areas Bill. As the Minister knows, this proposed legislation will allow Ireland to designate 30% of our oceans as protected areas with 10% of this area to be designated as highly protected. It will be vitally important for the protection of our marine life and to help reduce global carbon emissions. We need to manage our oceans better. The Bill has gone through pre-legislative scrutiny. When will it be published? More important, will the Government do everything possible to ensure the Bill is enacted by the Oireachtas during the lifetime of this Dáil? I know the Minister has an interest in marine matters, therefore I hope he can give me a positive response to this question.

I know the Deputy appreciates this area, as do others in this House, and he knows the waters of the south-west coast of Ireland pretty well, some of which need to be protected. The Government is committed to this. I have been told that drafting is under way. It is being prioritised and is scheduled to be published this session. It is a complex area though and is not as straightforward as it might sound but the Government is committed to that 30% figure, which is a very significant body of water. When you think about the scale of Ireland's sovereign territory, our sea surface is approximately nine times what our land surface is and we are talking about making 30% of that area a marine protection area and 10% highly protected. It is an important piece of work. We are committed to doing it to protect our marine ecosystems and I hope we will see that Bill published this term.